DIY Firecrackers: Connecting Roman Candles

Today we’re going to DIY firecrackers! Get your lighters ready :)

If asked as a child, I would have informed you that Christmas was my favorite holiday. But that’s only because my family didn’t really do the whole Fourth of July thing. In fact, almost every year until I was a senior in high school we were out of town on vacation on Independence day. Which meant maybe seeing some fireworks from a hotel window.

One year we went on vacation with friends of my parents and those friends gave my sister and me some little “safe and sane” firecrackers. We were throwing pop its off of the balcony and having an amazing time. I knew there was something great about these little fireworks and wanted to play with something a bit bigger.

My senior year I was with my friends for the first time on the Fourth and I was really excited. We watched an amazing show at the lake and then went and popped fireworks at a friends house. The only one I popped was a satellite that went straight for my friend’s hairy leg and burnt hair off of the back of his calf. I felt so, so badly about it.

It was probably 6-7 years before I even considered trying fireworks again in celebration of purchasing my first home in an unincorporated part of the country. It turns out that as an adult, I’m kind of a firebug. Kind of really a firebug. I LOVE fireworks. Love, love, love.

So today I’m showing you a way to DIY your fireworks. This is a really simple little project and a great way to get into the DIY for your fireworks. Perhaps next year, with a little more forethought I can show you some really great DIY fireworks projects!

For this project you will need:

• Roman candles
• Fuse
• Sturdy cardboard box
• Chicken wire
• Wire cutters
• Staple gun
• Electrical Tape

This is a box I get when purchasing cat litter at Sam’s Club. It has handles on the sides and it’s super sturdy because it holds 40 pounds of litter inside.

Take and remove the top of the box with a utility knife.

Take a enough chicken wire to overlap the sides of your box. Trim as needed with your wire nippers.

Staple the chicken wire to the box. Take care because the cardboard is thin and the staples are going to come through the box. So if your hand is on the other side, you’re going to get yourself stuck to your creation. Luckily I’ve never done that myself, but I’m sure it really, really hurts.

Attach all the way around and use your wire cutters to trim away the excess wire. You can go around with duct tape to help tack down the sharp edges of the wire if you’re worried about cutting yourself.

Feed your Roman Candles through the chicken wire and place them as you’d like. I like to put the bigger or more expensive candles toward the middle as that is when the box really gets going. The ones at the beginning and the end are going to kind of go solo for a bit.

This is your fuse. I went all over creation and this year had a hard time locating good fuse. This pretty slow burning which means that it’s great for lighting and getting away, but it’s going to make our candles go off more slowly. Using a faster fuse will produce a better pop with more of the candles going off at the same time.

Now we connect the long length of fuse to each and every Roman candle in the box using electrical tape.

Run both fuses alongside one another.

And use your electrical tape to attach snugly together.

Continue through the box winding your long fuse through to attach with every candle in the box. Here I’ve attached about half.

See how long the fuse is? Leave a decent length of fuse at the end to light and run and set up the box someplace nice and flat.

Because my box has handles, it’s easy to move around which is really great.

Now, for a bit of safety: Always take care when working with fireworks. Never ever smoke or have the fireworks near an open flame. When doing this type of project, it’s best done outside – don’t be setting these suckers up in your  living room in case something bad does happen. When dealing with fireworks always understand that there is an element of danger and you can potentially get hurt. Purchase your fireworks from a reputable dealer. In conclusion, always be safe and conscientious of what you’re doing and don’t blow your fingers off and try to sue me :) I don’t have anything you’d want anyhow. Except maybe a great glitter stash.

And now for my poorly shot video. Tomorrow (day after the Fourth) fireworks go on sale like crazy at some stands and I’m going to see if I can get some more candles to make a better video. My video skills suck to say the least. I really thought I held that camera wicked steady. Sorry!

Remember that a quicker burning fuse is going to yield a much quicker set of pops. You’ll have more light and sound condensed in a much shorter time which I prefer. But at least you get to see how it works.

Happy Fourth of July! Remember why we celebrate (not just the firecrackers!) and have a safe and happy day!