Thursday, December 3, 2009

Pine Cone Wreath

I've had Christmas wreaths on my mind for the last few weeks. They are so lively and welcoming. I knew I wanted to make one for the holidays. Our first Christmas wreath. Exciting!

I didn't want to spend the big bucks on it, though. And I wanted it to be eco-friendly (there's something in me thinking where will things end up when they're no longer used, and it never leaves me alone!). So last weekend I was thinking about it when it finally hit me.




Aren't pine cones lovely?

This project begun with a trip to the park. Well worth it all by itself.




We were hanging out with my husband's family, so everybody helped me pick up pine cones (such a lovely gesture, thanks!).


It was a fine and fun day.

And finally, I was able to work on them yesterday afternoon. I'm excited to share the results with you!!




{My inspiration for this project was Eddie Ross' ornament wreath (if you haven't checked it out, I strongly recommend you to; it's beautiful and easy). }

Supplies:

50 small sized pine cones.

Craft paint (your choice of color).

Wire rings (available at craft supply stores).

A hanger.

A paintbrush.

Hot glue gun.

Ribbons.


How to:

Paint your pine cones (you can go natural too if you wish).

I chose a silver tone for my decorations, so that's what I used to paint them.
I only painted the tips. (I spent a wonderful afternoon with my mom and daughter doing this ;)






{They're lovely just like this.}

Hot glue the wire rings to the top of the pine cone.







Bend the hanger into a circle.




Untwist the end of the hanger and string one pine cone at a time.




Twist the hanger again to close the circle.

Hot glue a ribbon to cover the hook end of the hanger.




Make a simple bow out of color coordinating ribbons.




Hot glue it to the wreath.







Enjoy!




I'm liking this so much, I'm thinking about making a few to give as presents to my family and friends. I seriously can't stop staring at it: my first Xmas wreath!

Best of all: easy on my pocket.

Sharing this with Funky Junk Interiors




 





Mustard Seed Creations furniture feature friday




Infarrantly Creative's pennywise present party.




And Kimba's A Soft Place to Land DIY Party




Finding fabulous frugalicious Friday




Thank you girls for hosting these amazing parties!!!!










29 comments:

steffany said...

This is very pretty, I love the silver tips.

René said...

Beautiful! I love the fullness. It turned out great!

Holly said...

I never would have thought to hot glue jump rings to the pinecones...genius! It's a very pretty wreath!

Anonymous said...

I love it!! Such a great idea to use the rings, that seems so much easier! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I love pine cones. Your wreath looks fantastic.

Recaptured Charm said...

Beautiful and elegant!
Nice Job.
Lisa

Infarrantly Creative said...

OMG that is freakin fantastic. Did the rings stay okay now that gravity has taken a hold of them? That is just awesome. Thanks for linkin up.

Miss Mustard Seed said...

I am totally with you on using free things that you can pick up off the ground to decorate! The fact that you painted the pinecone tips silver makes all the difference. I love the "frosted" look it gives. Gorgeous job and thanks for linking up to FFF!

Tammy said...

That is awesome.. it's on my list of projects to try. thanks for the tutorial!!!!

Sara said...

Wow, that's pretty impressive. I can barely make toast.

Thanks so much for visiting on my SITS day!

Funky Junk Interiors said...

Oh I love it!! Love the snowy looking detail against the rustic nature.

Love the tutorial, you make it look so easy. :)

Thanks for linking up!

FJ Donna

Lisa @ Fern Creek Cottage said...

What a lovely wreath! I love pinecones and they are even more wonderful with the silver tips!

Shannon said...

It turned out beautiful! I love that you used a natural element to create this. I made a pinecone tree once, and it took forever! Great job with the wreath!

PattieJ said...

That is so pretty!! I wish I had some trees nearby that were dropping pinecones! I could probably find some at the craft store but I think it's so neat to be able to just use what you find in nature! Beautiful wreath!

Sweet Bee Cottage said...

Very pretty! Just the right amount of silver to make them sparkle. Thanks for sharing your directions. You did a great job.

TQ said...

A lovely project, well done and earth friendly to-boot WONDERFUL !

Thanks for sharing, you have inspired me to do the same and take it as Hostess Gift next week. I think she will be thrilled.

Thank you again and until next time- wishing you good health and lots of happiness.

Anonymous said...

It's spectacular -- I love it!

Jane said...

Your wreath turned out great. I really appreciate the tutorial. I need a new wreath for my front door so I'm going to give this a try. Thanks.
Jane

Melissa @ The Inspired Room said...

I love the pine cones! Beautiful!

Nepperess said...

Wow love this! This is a fab take on the Eddie Ross wreath that everyone is doing this year. I bet this will be "the" wreath to do next year!

Amy @ Design-Aholic said...

Ok, ok, ok. I'll have to try this again! I tried to made a ball wreath like Eddie Ross, but the hanger thing just wasn't working out. I've got 4 grocery bags FULL of pinecones (that I also had family help me collect!) that I've been dying to use somehow. Thanks for the tutorial!

check out my wreaths, here:

http://design-aholic.blogspot.com/2009/11/finally-wreath.html

Kate Riley said...

Brilliant and beautiful! Love the silver paint treatment. You'll treasure this one for years ! Thanks for sharing, and for linking !

Kate

Destination Seaborn said...

I love this wreath! Okay, I'm going to spend the next year collecting pine cones so I can have this for next Christmas. Thanks for the great tutorial! ~Lisa

micah said...

Love it!!

Natasha in Oz said...

Your wreath is so gorgeous! I am sure that anyone would be thrilled to receive one of those as a gift! Thanks for the great pictorial instructions too!

Best wishes, Natasha.

Anonymous said...

Very pretty!

Eddie

Unknown said...

I love this wreath! We have lots of pinecones here but my Dad usually uses the ones the squirrels have eaten already to make pens out of. I might have to make one of these wreaths with the full ones we have lying around! Great tutorial!
-Elizabeth

Amanda said...

It came out beautiful. I love anything made with pine cones!

Rustown Mom said...

I've got this huge bag of pinecones that i use every year as fillers thru-out the house. Never thought to glue a ring on them to string them on wire - that's just genius! I can hardly wait to make mine - thank you for the tip!

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