"Widow" - Campfire Prop

The fire in my last test clip was completely digital, and it bothered me, so this time I'm amping up the approach, thanks to suggestions from everyone...I'm still going to use the digi-fire, but it will be layered on top of an animatable campfire, to tie it into the 3-D world a bit better...having a real physical 'fire' on set will also help me position the cgi fire in post, and figure out how large to make it...
I started out with a circle of balsawood, about 4 inches across...poked a hole in the center and glued on a nut, to tie the piece down to the set...then I squirted hot glue, added a layer of moss on top, which had to be glued to the sides of the balsa-disk too, so they wouldn't show...popped on my little logs, and the rock ring, and here's what I've got so far...

Next I made 5 wire-mesh cones to be the 'flames', various sizes....wrapped each in plastic, and attached them to the base...

A little orange and red paint, and its ready to go...I may try to do a little animation test with it if time permits...

"Mah biscuits're burnin'!"