When Life Gives You Pinecones…
If you love crafting with natural materials and live where pine trees grow, you’ve got just what you need to create a lot of different crafts and decor items.
Ironically, I used to live on a street with ‘pine’ in the name and had to buy pinecones for crafting because there were none to be found. Where we live now, there are massive old pine trees at the back of our garden and I’ve got more pinecones than I could ever use. But that doesn’t stop me from trying.
One favourite craft is to make pinecone animals. Here are my free instructions for making pinecone penguins, owls, and mice. There’s zillions more you could do. For example, the round bottom of a wide pinecone would make a fabulous turtle shell. (I’ve always got more ideas than I have time!)
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Pinecone Crafts
You’ll also notice that just about every pinecone project is made using a hot glue gun. Although I find glue guns rather poorly designed (someone, improve them, please!), I recommend the mini ones for projects like these. You can see one here on Amazon: mini hot glue gun.
One thing to pay attention to is: there are many different shapes and sizes of pinecones. The long, narrow ones like I have are good for pinecone animals. The more robust, roundish ones are ideal for decor projects like the wreath, sphere, and garland you’ll see below.
Pinecone Drying Tip
If you’ve found some pinecones but they’re damp and not ready for crafting, you can bake them in a low oven (250° F /120°C) for an hour (or as long as it takes) to kill off any bugs and dry them out. Just keep an eye on them. I’ve never had a problem but mine are always very damp when I do this.
Related: DIY repurposed owl wreath
Pinecone Garland
During the summer I became slightly obsessed with making pinecone garlands. It was as simple as wrapping wire around each pinecone to form a long chain. I assure you, I’d run out of wire before I’d ever run out of pinecones.
Roundup of Pinecone Craft & Decor Projects You Can Make
These ideas come from creative blogging friends. Please visit the links below to see how-tos for each of the projects. Many of them are simple and fast and a fun way to spend an afternoon.
DIY Pinecone Crafts
1. Pinecone Fairies | Our Fairfield Home & Garden
2. DIY Pinecone Animals | Penguin, Owl, and Mouse | Empress of Dirt
3. How to Paint Pinecones| Town and Country Living
4. Winter Pinecone Tree Craft| Pet Scribbles (no longer available)
DIY Pinecone Décor
5. Autumn Garden Accents | Our Fairfield Home & Garden
6. Pinecone Wreath | Somewhat Quirky Design
7. Boxwood and Pinecone Centerpiece | On Sutton Place
8. DIY Pinecone Spheres (in Minutes!) | Garden Therapy
Keeping Warm
9. Pinecone and Herb Fire Starters | Garden Chick
DIY Christmas Pinecone Crafts and Décor
10. Pinecone Christmas Trees | Somewhat Quirky Design
11. DIY Christmas Mantel Décor Ideas | On Sutton Place
12. Pinecone Centerpiece | Crafty Gardener
13. Bleached and Glittered Pinecone Ornaments | Town and Country Living
14. DIY Pinecone Garland | Town & Country Living
15. Mini Pinecone Tree Pots | Pet Scribbles
If you’ve got a pinecone project to share, you can add it to the linky party (below) or post it on my Empress of Dirt Facebook page here.
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
Related: 12 Owl Art & Craft Projects
lovely ideas, thank you!
What a fantastic collection of pinecone crafts! I’m so thrilled to have two of my own projects included among so many creative ideas! Thanks so much! Pinning and sharing…and no doubt “doing” some of these soon! 🙂
These simple crafts are very enjoyable when it’s freezing outside. Thanks, Laura!
Fantastic! What a comprehensive roundup. Love the penguin 🙂