Category: Life Hack

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!

Hi, if you are reading this post, then lucky you! Just kidding. Well, kind of. This is my first personal blog post. This is tough for me, because generally I am a private person. Regardless, here I am, spilling it all out on the world wide web.  The truth is, I am an aspiring author, and so it is time that I had a medium to publicly express that passion for writing. I have been working on a memoir close to my heart for the past couple of years. 

I thought it would be fun to have a blog where I could share some life hacks, book reviews and recommendations, a blog series, recipes, fun facts, and other cool stuff that comes to my mind (or yours!). Do you have a topic that you would like to see me write about? Please share. When it is time for my blog series, I will welcome guest entries, so send a shout out at that time! My goal is to publish at least one post every 2 weeks, and I hope you will be a part of this journey. 

So, enough about me, though I know you are dying to know more. 🙂 Who here is excited for fall?  Pumpkin spice ANYTHING, honeycrisp apples, and colorful leaves make me feel all warm inside. Here is a quick recipe for homemade pumpkin spice candles.  I love the pumpkin butter jars from trader joes, and made my candle in it (could not bring myself to throw it away when the spread was all done!). In case you don’t have a label you like on your candle jar and you want one, print out, cut, and tape this freebie label I have provided onto your jar (double sided tape should hold it in place).  https://anitakharbanda.com/pumpkin-spiced-label-4/

Pumpkin Spice Candle Making Directions:
Supplies: wax chips (Amazon sells them) or unscented/white candles you already have,  Candle Wicks, glass jar or candle holder (like I said I love my pumpkin butter jar from trader joes), a chopstick (or a wooden skewer, or a popsicle stick), yellow and red liquid dye, pumpkin spice fragrance oil, and a heatproof glass container.

Life hack: I used a 30% off coupon on all regularly priced items at Michaels, so don’t forget to google coupons for your favorite craft stores. Also, use the extras of the supplies you bought to make candles for friends, or save them to make pumpkin spice candles again next year.  If you want to take it a step further on the resourcefulness (I am a self-admitted cheap-o when it comes to maximizing the use of things), you can save the wicks you cut off from the top of the candle and attach them to tabs from old candles to use in the future (just place the wicks into the tab, and tighten the tab a bit around the wick with small pliers).

These directions are for one candle, but make as many as you want as gifts, since you will have all of the supplies anyway!

1. First, Buy wax chips (amazon sells them, and a good rule of thumb is that 1 lb of chips yields 16 fl. oz of wax)  OR just use old unscented, white candles that you have at home. I used six 1¼” tall votive candles I had at home, and cut them off of the wick/tab, which was the perfect amount for the 10 oz trader joes jar.

2. Second, place wax chips or broken up candle pieces into a heatproof glass container. Heat in microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Repeat in 1 minute increments until fully melted.

3. Next, dip your wick into the melted wax container, and then move it into the center of your candle jar. Tie the top of the wick to a skewer/chopstick/popsicle stick. Rest the skewer/chopstick/popsicle stick across top of jar until wax dries.

4. Now, return to the glass container full of the melted wax. Add drops of liquid dye to the melted wax, using a 1-to-3 ratio of red dye to yellow dye; and then stir. Continue adding the dyes in the above ratios until the wax turns orange. Stir in about 40 drops of pumpkin fragranced oil per one cup of liquid.

5. Pour the colored/scented liquid wax into your candle jar, leaving a 1/4-inch rim at the top. Let sit in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

6. Lastly, cut your wick and you’re done.

Hope you enjoy it! Comment on this post letting me know how you liked the candles.

I bid you adieu with a fun fact: 7% of Americans believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows.  (Oh shoot, you are one of them aren’t you?)

Feel free to contact me with questions. Thank you for stopping by!

More to come in a couple of weeks. Same bat time.  Same bat place. Note to self: need more time with adults.