How to build a Fake Fire

	--sight-- the fake fire can be recreated using the glowing logs with the rolling embers, but the most powerful and captivating part of the campfire is the dancing flames
Do it yourself	This dancing flame effect can be created by blowing white silk material into the air and shinning light on it with orange, yellow, and blue lights to create these flames. A large coffee can, can have the bottom removed by a can opener and mount a small computer type of fan in the middle area. attach an upside down v shape of silk to the top of the can. The fan can be purchased at a local radio shack. Find several small lights that can be focused onto the dancing flame and can be colored orange and blue or yellow. You can purchase many different colors of "Gels" from your local theatre lighting rental company or find a local distributor at the www.rosco.com website. Gels will provide you color and can be placed very close to your bulbs and can withstand heat very well. Don't forget you will need to have your fan can elevated off the floor a couple of inches to allow air flow from the bottom. Hide all of this apparatus in the middle of split wood.
This is a photo of our new campfire system (not my homemade one)	Note: I used this for a number of campfire re-creations at least 5-6 times, but the last one went a little longer then normal as our singing got carried away, and I noticed the burning wood smell was VERY realistic, that was when I jumped up and unplugged my homeade unit and decided that it was time to retire it for the safety of the kids around me. (This is a true story) I started looking for alternatives and found a safer, more realistic, and less hassle of a unit which was UL certified. When I discovered the price was barely more then I had in materials for my homemade campfire, I began to ask myself why I stressed myself out over when my homemade campfire would really burst into flames. IndoorCampfires.com carries a nice portable indoor campfire (1-888-638-1509) Click here for a you tube video to see an artificial campfire in action
	--sound-- FREE: the best way to achieve the realistic campfire sounds is by borrowing a sound effects cd called "Crackling Fire" from your local public library.
	For added realism, place a small computer speaker or mini speaker and portable cd player (walkman style) under the wood surrounding the campfire to play your crackling fire sounds. No fire is complete without campfire songs:
	--touch-- use real logs, sticky smores, and poison ivy (just seeing if you are still awake)
	--smell-- FREE: in the room next door to your campfire, have a cookie tray with smores (Graham cracker, Hershey's chocolate bar, and marshmallows) assembled and your oven pre-heated. Just place the smores in the oven to slowly bake and wafe the smell accross to the adjoining room. or pull the smores out and set them in the room near your campfire just as the lights go down and the fire starts up. (You could always burn a few marshmallows for the smell of it.) I found this amazingly realistic woodfire scent available from scent-air technologies to use with the indoor campfire. see their website for details.
Note: these campfires really work as a great prop to enhance scouting ceremonies that have to be held indoors.	--taste-- Now it is time to eat the smores you've been smelling (see above)