Bonfire night: How to make your oak fireplace beam the centrepiece

By the time bonfire night arrives, the clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in, leaving most of us in darkness before we even get home from work.

While many are counting the days until the warm and bright spring evenings, here at Traditional Beams HQ, we look forward to those longer hours of darkness, as they offer us the opportunity to snuggle up in front of our fires and give our exquisite oak beams the attention they deserve.

In our last blog post, we shared our secrets for dressing up your fireplace beam for Halloween. Today, we’re going to talk about how to gear up your fireplace for Guy Fawkes. Whether you’re arranging a party with friends or a night in front of the box, you’ll find something to ignite your inspiration (see what we did there?)…

A ‘firework display’ for your fireplace

Going outside to see some fireworks is all well and good, but there comes a time when your fingers are frozen and you can no longer feel your feet. Going inside can feel like giving up, especially when your neighbours are still braving the cold to light their sparklers. The good news is, is that there is a way to carry on a colourful display in your front room…

Pick up some colourful fire cones, and place them on your open fire or inside your wood burner, to create a dazzling display of colours from the comfort of your sofa.

Going outside is so last year…

Marshmallows roasting on an open fire…

OK, so maybe it’s a little too early for Christmas carols (and the song was actually about chestnuts, not marshmallows), but toasting marshmallows on your fire can be a fun (and extremely tasty) activity for the whole family.

Obviously, safety first, so make sure children are always supervised and that the marshmallows aren’t so hot that they’ll take the first layer of skin off your lips.

Decorate your oak beam with mini toffee apples

If it’s too warm to light your fire, or you don’t want to, as you’re heading out to see a display, you could decorate your oak fireplace beam with some mini toffee apples for bonfire night.

You can make these tasty titbits by carving up apples using a melon baller, then simply sticking them into those little wooden toothpicks, dipping them into caramel and leaving them on baking paper to dry.

Pile them on little leaf shapes cut out from baking paper (crumple this beforehand if you want your leaves to look more rustic) and create a display on top of your oak beam.

Not only does this look great, but when you get back, you’ll have a tasty snack waiting for you (if you have a dog with a sweet tooth, it’s probably a good idea to lock them out of this room!).

Happy bonfire night!