These easy-to-make Fire Bowls create pleasant soft lighting for an evening dinner on the patio and can really help to set the scene for an evening garden party. They amount to nothing more than a concrete bowl filled with decorative rocks that conceal and inexpensive Tiki-type torch that burns oil lamp fuel. They can be left outside all summer, rain or shine.
What You Need:
-plastic for covering work surface
-4 - 5 assorted sizes plastic bowl forms
-1 bag sand topping concrete mix
-plastic mixing pail
-vegetable oil with brush
-mud gloves
1 bag large landscape rocks
Search for both of these on line on-line:
-Clean Burn Torch Oil
-4.5 Tiki Torch canister with wick
What You Do:
1. Spread out the plastic to protect your work surface.
2. Use the brush to coat the inside surface of your plastic bowls with oil. You can use plastic salad bowls, plastic planting containers, even take out salad bowls. This gives you an interesting assortment of sizes.
3. Put on the mud gloves and pour dry sand topping mix into plastic pail. Add water slowly in small amounts and mix to a plastic clay-like consistency so that it does not slump or is not runny. Mix in smaller amounts rather than the entire bag at once.
4. Start packing an oiled mold with handfuls of the concrete mixture. Cover the bottom about 1-inch thick and then build up the sides going around the bowl until you reach the top. Smooth of the top edge by placing your four fingers inside the bowl and your thumbs on the outside. Move along the edge smoothing as you go.
TIP: Gravity will pull the heavy mixture down the sides of the bowl as you work. This can be frustrating since we want the bowl to go to the top of the mold. A simple trick to resolve the slumping issue is to walk away for 20 to 25 minutes. By leaving the concrete alone, it will begin to set and crystalize, getting stiffer in the process. You will discover it to be harder and more receptive to being pressed to the top edge of the bowl.
5. As the concrete hardens, smooth surfaces to your liking and poke two to three drainage holes on the bottom of the bowl. You can choose to leave a smooth simple rim
6. Allow to harden overnight. Gently tap the edge of the plastic mold with your fist to free it from the harden concrete. Do this all around the bowl form. Invert the bowl on a table and give it a few gentle taps. The plastic mold should pop right off. Clean up edges by rubbing with a brick or a stone.
7. Place one layer of the decorative stones in the bottom of the bowl. Fill the torch canister and give it a test light to ensure it work and looks good. Then place it on top of the layer of stones. Fill the bowl to the top with stones, totally concealing the torch cannister. Only the wick should show in the center.
8. Position the finished firepot in a safe spot where it can be enjoyed all summer. When not in use, keep the wick covered with the cap provided with the canister to reduce evaporation of the oil and to keep the wick from getting wet.
TIP: I like the Tiki Clean Burn Oil. It has no smell and can be used inside or outside with no messy smoke or soot. The Bite-fighter oil is very smoky and leaves a black sooty mess. It may do an effective job keeping the bugs away, but it will keep people away too!
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