Pine Cone Wreath Tutorial

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I love wreaths for every season of the year but, I especially love a classic winter wreath that can be used throughout several months - no matter the holiday.  I think this classic pine cone wreath falls into that category - can be used from Thanksgiving to Spring quite easily.  And, it falls into that ever trendy category of Farmhouse Decor for sure.

For years I have wanted one of these.  I would see them in magazines, on the Internet, on other people's doors, everywhere and I really loved them and wanted one for our door.  The thing -I neither had the time nor the motivation to make one.....That's it - the truth is out about my lack of motivation most of the time.

But this year I could in no way say I did not have the time... I have lots of time - I am retired.  And somehow along with the new found time I also found the motivation to take on this project.

The thing of it is - it was so simple I don't know why I waited so long!  How silly.... I had everything I needed - didn't have to purchase a thing.  Our backyard is full of pine cones so Papa and Miss A went out one afternoon and picked up quite a few.  They weren't open yet so I placed them in an oven at 200 degrees and let them bake for about 30 minutes until they did open up.  This took me awhile as we had quite a few to do. ( I read this tip somewhere - but can't remember where- things like this just stick in my mind sometimes.)

I had one of those green wire wreath forms you can buy at Michael's, Walmart or most anyplace they sell craft items.  I just began gluing the pine cones on with hot glue.  This part did take a while as I had to? wait for the glue to dry on each one or they fell off.  But when it was done it looked like the above pic.  ( Sorry I forgot to take pics during the process.)

Note: One of my lovely readers left a great tip on an easy process to put this wreath together.  If I were to make another I would surely try this method out only I think I would use the oven method of drying it out if possible simply because it also takes care of any critters that might be lurking in the cones.  " Here is the secret to NOT using glue on your wreaths. get a five gallon bucket, fill it with steaming hot water and pour as many piney cones into the bucket as you can. They will shrink, (much like they do when it rains). It will take 20-30 mins for them to shrink. This is where nature helps out with the gluing! Take the pine-cones and place them into the three circle wreath wire just like normal. Put as many cones as you can in each section, much like a new York subway during rush hour Monday AM. Once the wire wreath base is full of cones, place it out into the sun OR near a fireplace, heat vent etc etc.  Nature will open the cones and due to the proximity, they will expand and tighten themselves much much more than applying lots of glue! Here is hoping these instructions make sense (my lovely mum, made six of us kids hunt and make pine cone wreaths until us kiddos were dreaming of sap every year at Christmas to sell.)

Then I gave it a little dusting of white spray paint- not much - I wanted some of the darkness of the pine cones to show through. And while it was still wet I sprinkled white glitter on it.  It glistens like snow when the light hits it.  After it dried I just hot glued some faux red berries on it.

I love how it looks on our black door.  I can use this all winter.  Don't know why I waited so long to make it.  It was easy to do, I had all the necessary items to make it, and it turned out so pretty-just the way I wanted it to look.  

Are you like me - put things off forever and then when you finally do them are amazed at how simple they are to complete and don't know why you put it off for so long?  That's me - professional procrastinator.....

What are you making this year for your Christmas decor?  Would love it if you shared it with us in the comments below.  I answer all comments through email.

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