Pine Cone Christmas Tree Ornament

Evolution of an Ornament

Last year when my son was two, I figured he was old enough to make his own ornaments. He was very much into crafts and loved getting messy, but what could we make and how would we make it? The answer was right in our own backyard. Every time we went for a walk around the neighborhood or even our own property, my son would collect pinecones. We had a box of pinecones in all shapes and sizes, some of which were huge. They'd be perfect for ornaments.

Supplies

Supplies for our pinecone ornaments were inexpensive most of which we already had on hand. In addition to the aforementioned jumbo pinecones, we used metallic red or green paint, paintbrushes, glitter spray, or gold and silver spray paint. We also needed thin ribbon or colorful heavy duty thread to help attach our ornaments to the tree.

Debug

If you'll be making these pinecones on your own, you'd be advised to first get rid of any critters that may be lurking in the depths of your pinecones. You may not realize it, but some cones can be filled with bugs! To get rid of them you can either place the pinecones in an air tight plastic bag for a few days to cut off the oxygen supply, or you can place them in a foil pan and bake on a low setting for an hour or two.

Making your Ornament

To make the ornament, apply a metallic colored paint. This was my son's favorite part. I just poured the paint into an empty egg carton, handed him a brush and let him go to town. Don't get too heavy handed with the paint though, otherwise the ornament can look clumpy and dull.

You can also spray paint the pinecone for a more even coat. When the paint dries, spray it with glitter spray so it reflects off the Christmas lights. You can even spray with fake snow! Tie a ribbon around the stem and you're good to go.

This project can be done by children of all ages and makes a wonderful addition to any Christmas stocking or gift bag.