Four Seasons Pine Cone Tree

Jewellmartin
by Jewellmartin
2 Materials
$8
4 Hours
Medium
It wasn’t raining, but it was a bitter cold blowing through that kept me in our vacation place for three days. The scent of eucalyptus and pine cones wafted through the living room. And I knew it was time to build the Pine Cone Tree I had been planning since the first of the year.

I have been gathering pine cones for three weeks. My husband picked some from the ground at a Rest Area in Georgia. I bought a $1 bag of pine cones at a Walmart in Alabama, and two more at a Dollar General in Florida. My sister’s husband gave me a couple of huge acorns with caps, and I picked up some smaller ones along the way. Total cost: $3. The acorns inspired me to make a Four Seasons tree instead of a Christmas tree.


I traced a plate on a Dollar Tree foam board and cut it out for the base. I thought about gluing a gold braid around the base, but I didn’t.


I cut an X in the base so I could put a battery powered candle inside the tree. I bought a pillar candle but it didn’t work, so my photos won’t show the candle. It’s still a good idea.


I used hot glue to attach the first row of pine cones in a rough circle. Hot glue was perfect, because the cones could sit in their natural positions instead of straight up and down. Three of the cones had been sprayed with colored wax when I bought them, so I glued them in a cluster for one side.


Nice mixture of pine cones from different varieties of pine trees were a good start.


This will become the winter side because of the waxed cones. Each angle is a little different and I decorated each side differently.
Although I intend to use an electric candle, it would also be cute with a string of fairy lights.


I was able to make picks out of the stems of silk flowers I cut off the clusters. I didn’t pay more than 25 cents for each silk cluster. I love after Christmas sales. I did not hot glue any of the decorations. I’m donating the tree and the flowers and some other decorations for each side. Now for the Four Seasons:


Winter, in cream lace and silk turquoise poinsettias, with some little holly sprigs and waxed pine cones, and a scrap of a green cloth napkin. (At night, an electric candle would be burning inside.)


Summer features cream silk carnations, seashells, a crab shell and a tiny starfish from Panama City Beach walks, and two large seashells and a starfish from a local Everything’s a Dollar tourist shop. The largest shell is on top, but the photo may have cut it off. This is my favorite side. I did keep the big shells and the crab shell, but I added other shells since I am donating the Pine Cone Tree.


Spring makes me happy with narcissis and rose blooms. I’m originally from Georgia, but everywhere in the South where I have lived, magnolias are a year-round tree. And various types bloom in different months. This would be a perfect flower arrangement for me with real flowers. And look closely and you will see tiny bunnies and bright mushrooms.


And I ended with Autumn. Silk fall leaves, real eucalyptus and other greenery, and acorns from three states on a napkin made this a more dramatic look.
This has been a most fulfilling project. Even though I’m donating it, I have these photos and I enjoyed the hours I spent on it. Although I had to buy some silk flowers and pine cones, this felt organic to me, as if I were working with nature to create art.


Suggested materials:
  • Silk flowers, pine cones, glue sticks, decorations   (Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Walmart, Everthing’s a Dollar tourist shop)
  • Pine cones, acorns and caps, greenery   (In Alabama, Georgia, and Florida)
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