Here's the project: I want to make a fake fire, you can see them around at restaurants, casinos, etc... It's usually a fan that blows pieces of fabric with a colored light shining on the fabric to simulate a flame.

My specific plan is to hang this up as a halloween decoration and use 2 shades of bright blue LEDs to simulate a Hinotama. (see picture. It's the "ghost fire" of japanese legends.)

I've been working on this for a while and I can't get it to work. I'm using a variety of computer fans, from 1" to 5". I've moved up to server fans that sound like damn vaccuum cleaners and it still won't make the fabric flames move.

I've tried mounting the fabric on straight sticks over the fan, and I've tried mounting the fabric as a tube. Neither worked. I've tried using cardboard from a toilet paper roll to make a 1-2" long tube to channel the air in the right direction and it only marginally worked.

I think it might just be too heavy a material. I'm using whatever Jo-Annes calls "silky solids" since that was the closest they had to actual silk.

So, if any of you have made a fake fire before, what kind of material did you use for flames and are there any other tips you can give me? It'd be much appreciated.