Thanksgiving week is when we (along with more than half the nation) put up our Christmas decorations. Have you ever wanted to have fun with your decorations and get a little creative? Me too. During the beginning of the month of November, my mind kept drifting back to the DIY painted pinecones which warmly decorated our tree and mantel growing up. They were gold and shiny. I wanted to make my own, like my mother did, versus just buying pre-made ones in the store. Plus, DIY pinecones are budget friendly, and you have an opportunity to be resourceful and creative.
One issue presented itself though: I didn’t have a pine tree. Fast forward to last week, and a neighbor around the corner has a large box of pinecones out in front of her yard. A sign, above the bag of pinecones said ‘anyone is welcome to pick them up’. Problem solved. Thank you universe. If you don’t have a pine tree, I am sure you have a neighbor or friend with one who would gladly lend you some pinecones from their tree. Or, come to my neighborhood, and we can go to my neighbor’s house. There are still plenty of the pinecones outside of their house as of today.
Now, the easy step by step process to make them. First, bake them to ensure any critters, bugs, or other creepy crawlies are removed. I layered a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and baked the cones for 20 minutes at 200 degrees fahrenheit. If they are baked any hotter, they might burn. Rotate the pinecones once halfway through your heating time.
After baking them, I removed and allowed the cones to cool, and then laid them out on a trash bag in our garage, with the garage door open. You want to spray paint them somewhere outdoors, with ventilation, where they won’t blow away. I used the Rustoleum painters touch with primer, so that I would only have to spray paint 1-2 coats. Your local hardware store, or better yet amazon, will have the spray paint for about $4, and you can spray paint many (easily more than thirty) pine cones from that one can. Gift idea?
Next comes the easy part. Put on disposable gloves, prop your pinecones upwards, and spray paint them all the way around each cone. The directions on this spray paint can specified keeping the jar 10-16 inches away while spray painting, but I was a little less than 10 inches away, more like 8 inches. The coverage of this spray paint was amazing. I wanted an ivory to beige color to match my dining room, which is why I chose the satin strawflower color. There were several options of colors to choose from, so have fun with it!
Finally, allow them to dry. The directions on the spray paint said to wait 20 minutes for the paint to dry, but I layered my pinecones pretty heavily with the spray paint, so I left them out to dry overnight. Plus, it is cold right now in north Texas, so less heat = more time to dry. The next morning I added the second coat, and a couple of hours later they were dry.
What do you think? Look how beautiful and festive they turned out! I am going to leave them out year round, and just remove the ornaments from my decorative piece after the holidays. Hope you enjoy these pinecones in your home, or giving them as gifts.
Did you have any fun or creative holiday projects that were DIY? Please share!
