- Pine Cone, Dry (you can find these in nature or a craft store)
- aerosol paint (in the colors of your choosing)
- acrylic color (in the colors of your choosing)
- painters’ brushes
- substantial ornamental bowl
1. Ensure that the pine cones you are using are dry and clean. 2. Snap off all of the parts from the top of the pinecone about halfway down; the bottom of the pinecone will be the flower. 3. Spray-paint the pinecone the same color all throughout. 4. Add more flower details with the acrylic paint. Allow to dry. 6. Place your fresh pinecone flowers inside your large ornamental bowl. 7. Relish your brand-new center piece! 8. You may also make red ones for the holidays!
1. Remember to wait until your pinecones are totally dry before using acrylic paint to add finishing touches. 2. Because the pinecones’ edges might be sharp, you might want to use gloves when handling them. You can choose a topic that is appropriate all year round. I’ll be concentrating on colors associated with spring and easter, and I’ll have a bowl of hues designated for “Christmas Corner” as well.
How are the stems of pine cones attached?
In my winter planter arrangements, I adore including pine cones. They add a lovely decorative element.
To help you secure the pine cones into your arrangements, you can purchase pine cones with sticks already attached*. However, you need to find out a way to attach a stick to loose pine cones, whether they come from your own trees or ones you buy. The majority of the time, you can’t just leave some loose pine cones in a garden arrangement and expect that the wind would blow them away, sending them skittering down the street.
Similar to the technique I described in an article on how to build planter decorations, I have drilled a hole in the bottom of little pine cones with a rather sturdy foundation and hot glued in a stick.
However, you need a different technique if your pine cone has a looser base structure or a stem that sticks out, like the huge pine cones* that are popular decorations at this time of year.
My method is picking off a few of the bottom scales on the pine cone’s one side, which will serve as the “back side,” placing a stick against it, and wrapping floral wire* around it to fasten it.
You may use a dowel or even a wooden barbecue skewer as the support stick. In this illustration, I used a section of a pine branch that I had cut off when assembling the remainder of my planter arrangement. You may really use any stick as long as it can handle the weight of the pine cone and is robust enough. The size of the stick needed depends on how big the pine cone is.
Additionally, more of the stick will need to be fastened to the pine cone the larger the cone is. This enormous pine cone would have been terribly unstable if I had tied it to a pole with a length of only an inch or two. However, a small (say, three long) pine cone would have needed no more than an inch of a stick.
When I wrap the wire around the front side of the pine cone, I take care to insert it as deeply as possible between the scales. If you look closely, you can still see the wire, but once the pine cone is incorporated into the arrangement, it won’t be as noticeable and, in many cases, will be hidden by foliage nonetheless.
This is the side view:
And once they were arranged, my enormous pine cones with attached sticks looked like this:
*Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a fee at no extra cost to you.