DIY Decoration: Pine Cone Garland

by Lori O'Farrill

3 Hours

Easy

What a great, easy project and one that you can leave up during the fall and winter months. My pine cone garland project took me about 2 hours to put together. I had a mixture of pine cones: a handful of small cones from a potpourri container, 2 bags of scented cones ($2.99 each bag on sale) and some cones that I gathered from my backyard. I had everything that I needed except for the 2 bags of scented pine cones. So for this project I only spend $6.00.
I love craft projects where I can reuse items around the house or from outside. When you are outside looking for pine cones you have to do a couple of things to make sure that there are no bugs in them. Wouldn't it be great, when you have people over to your house and someone say “hey what’s crawling out of your garland?” (Um no, gross)

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After this is done, gather the remaining supplies and turn on a movie or show and get ready to start wrapping wire around your pine cones. Here is what you will need:

Wire – I used green paddle wire because that is what I had.

Wire Cutters

Jute Twine

Scissors

Clean the cones from debris

Soak them in 1 part vinegar and 1 part water, they will close up – don’t worry. When you do step three they will open back up and look gorgeous.

Bake them in the oven. Place foil on a baking sheet, set oven to 250 degrees. Bake them for about 1 hour. Just a little side note, it might take longer if they are really wet. I had mine in the oven for almost 2 hours for one batch.

Let them cool on a towel. There is going to be more debris flaking off. Having them on the towel will keep your table/counter top free of the little extras.

My pine cones were all different sizes so I can’t tell you how long to cut your wire, just make sure to leave extra on the end so that you can attached it to the jute twine. Take a piece of jute twine and knot a loop at the top. Then attach your pine cones, tightly twisting the wire as you would a twist tie. Keep going until you run out of pine cones or your garland is long enough for the space you want to decorate with.

I loved working on this DIY decoration project for a couple of reasons. It was inexpensive and I could relax while working on it. I don’t normally watch TV, but this pine cone garland project gave me a chance to sit down on the couch, relax and to create something for the holiday.