Lots of people enjoy the New Year celebrations with fireworks. After a night of colorful explosions to welcome the New Year and ward off bad luck, you may still have a lot of fireworks left over. Yet for some people, even the thrill of watching sparklers and consumer fireworks can get a bit boring. Some people want the thrills and adrenaline rushes that come with explosives. If you’re tired of watching fireworks cast their magical glow in the air, you can use fireworks in many other different, exciting, and crazy ways.

Safety Reminders

The sale, purchase, and use of fireworks in some states are often limited to licensed pyrotechnics experts. If you do get your hands on a load of fireworks, you should be aware of the dangers of the explosive compounds. The explosives and heavy metals found in fireworks can cause skin irritation, and are toxic when inhaled. Do not attempt to disassemble fireworks if you’re not absolutely sure you want to perform any of these pyrotechnics stunts. Here are other things you should keep in mind:

• Always secure permits before performing any of these firework stunts.
• Perform the stunts in a wide, open area free from brush that could be set on fire.
• When disassembling fireworks to get explosive materials, do not work near an open flame, a source of fire, or a source of static electricity.
• Always perform these stunts at a safe distance.
• Always have a fire extinguisher and a water source nearby in the likely event that something will go wrong.

Remember that anything that has something to do with explosives can risk personal injury or property damage. Playing around with fireworks is extremely dangerous, and should never be attempted without proper knowledge of pyrotechnics and explosives.

1. Chucking Pit

Whether you want to blow up Holiday pumpkins, watermelons, or even a frozen turkey, a chucking pit is a great way to send all sorts of Holiday stuff flying through the air. Chucking pits work a lot like mortar cannons, only that you’re using low-grade explosive and that you’re not using live munitions. To make a chucking pit, follow these steps:

• Dig a conical hole about two feet deep, and six inches across.
• Place a cone of parchment paper inside the hole. Make sure that the bottom of the cone is sealed with candle wax to prevent the explosive powder from leaking out.
• Add explosive powder from consumer fireworks inside the cone. The more explosive you use, the higher the object will go. Do not use sparkler powders because they tend to be a bit on the weak side. Make sure that the explosive material is packed tightly inside the cone.
• Add a blasting cap and fuse, and seal the cone with the ends of the parchment. Carefully drop the cone inside the hole.
• Place a heavy iron plate on top of the hole. The plate should be loose enough to let air in, but heavy enough to dampen the explosion.

To activate the chucking pit, place the pumpkin, watermelon, or turkey on top of the iron plate. Light the fuse, run for cover, and watch the object fly up the air. It may not be as graceful or as magnificent as fireworks, but flying fruit and turkeys are a great way to celebrate the New Year.

2. Sparkler Bomb

Real sparkler cannons are quite expensive, and are often used as props for many pyrotechnics shows. The next cheapest thing to do would be to use a sparkler bomb. Sparkler bombs are popular among people who like to celebrate the New Year with a beer and a bomb, although a sparkler bomb should only be used by a sober person. Here’s how you can make a sparkler bomb:

• Prepare an aluminum can that will hold the sparkler material. Saw off the top quarter of a soda can.
• Sparkler bombs are best made if you have a lot of sparklers at hand. A handful of sparklers is usually enough to make a cool bomb.
• Set aside one sparkler to use as your fuse.
• Strip off the sparklers into the aluminum can by loosening them from the wire core. You can place as much sparkler material as you want inside the can, just as long as the sparkler bits still have room to burn.
• Set the can of sparkler bits inside a pit, or an area lined with rocks or tiles.
• Place the sparkler fuse inside the can and light it. The sparklers will then burn white-hot for a few seconds. Do not touch the can or the white-hot embers from the sparklers.

3. Rocket Propelled Fruit

While a pig is a very heavy thing to take to the air, you can attach noise-making rockets or rocket-propelled fireworks on just about any fruit you have on the Holiday table. Rockets are meant to carry their own weight, but when combined together on a frame or a large fruit, you can send all sorts of melons, oranges, and apples soaring to the sky. A lightweight rack of bamboo skewers, or even duct tape, can hold the rockets to the fruit:

• One or two rockets are usually enough to launch an orange, a pomegranate, or a mango.
• For heavier fruits like cantaloupes or watermelons, four or five rockets can lift the fruits off the ground.

Whenever you launch fruits up to the stratosphere, make sure that nobody gets hurt from the velocity of falling fruit. Always launch fireworks and rocket-propelled fruit at a clear area with people at a safe distance away. (How about creating a model rocket? see how to make a model rocket)

4. Rube Goldberg Device

If you have a collection of fireworks that you want to dispose of, and a lot of room to work on, you can make a Rube Goldberg Device out of them. The devices, named after the cartoonist Rube Goldberg, are complicated machines that accomplish simple tasks in very complicated ways. You can arrange sparklers, rockets, noisemakers, and other small fireworks together to launch a Roman Candle.

Making a Rube Goldberg Device is difficult and time-consuming, although the end result is fun and exciting. You’ll have a lot of fun trying to light a single rocket with moving sparklers, or lighting a Roman candle with 24 sparklers and 18 rockets moving around the place.

They say that when you play with fire, you might get burned. While serious injury and property damage are definitely possible when you play around with fireworks, you can have a lot of fun with them if you perform the stunts safely. If you enjoy reading this article, you’ll surely want to learn how to take pictures of fireworks.