If you live in an apartment, burn a candle or find a small shell you can use to burn something small in. One bucket filled with water or a water hose to put the fire out with afterwards. One basket, it can be made of straw, sweetgrass, anything safely burnable. A braid of sweetgrass. Sage, white sage is particularly nice.
Sacred tobacco is always preferred but very difficult to find.
Regular tobacco you purchase at a store is fine. We generally use pipe tobacco that is not too harsh and pleasant smelling. Burley Gold seems to be one of the more gentler varieties. A drawing or painting that you have made that you would like to offer up to creation. You put things into your basket like sweetgrass, sage and tobacco.