Smoke Balls

We found these smoke balls at the grocery store the other day next to the sparklers and brought them out to play with to see what they are all about. Have you heard of them?? This was my first experience with them and I have decided that I'm not really fond of these messy smoke makers.
First of all, these puppies last all of 30 seconds a peice. This short-lived fun involves watching them whirl around and then spew a bunch of colored smoke at you. You must light them off on a surface that you don't care about getting blackened and burned. I learned that the hard way by burning a nice little spot on my flagstone out front.
Plus, this pretty orange smoke you see in the picture is about as good as it gets. I was super impressed about how they photographed- although the color doesn't look as fantastic in person.
Lastly, my kids got hit with a few of the flying sparks as they spun around once they were lit. I wasn't very happy about that- but then, these are fireworks we are talking about and they do come with a warning on the box!
So, if you decide to try these babies out, make sure your hopes aren't too high- as they aren't that impressive; make sure you use them in an area you don't care about getting damaged (like the asphalt) and stand back to enjoy them so you don't get injured.