Any Ideas of craft projects with pinecones?

[mariposamom]

We have a lot of large pinecones around my house and was looking for ideas of projects to do with the kids and maybe a few for me.  I have looked on the internet and found a few cheesy ones but none that I really liked.  Any ideas?

[stepmominhell]

Here's something I posted last week about pine cones:

All you needs is a fairly sturdy cardboard, pine cones, a pretty ribbon, and hot glue gun. 

Cut the card board a little smaller then the size of the wreath or larger candy cane you would like to use on a door or wall to hang. 
Hot glue the pine cones to the card board, and also together on the sides so not to fall off. 
Make sure there are no open spots, and see if it looks like a pretty wreath or candy cane? 
Spray with some Shelac or a some sort of clear coat to protect it if you want to before adding the ribbon.
Put the ribbon on the bottom of the wreath or a smaller ribbon in the turn of the in the candy cane. 
Attach something to use to hang it on the door or wall. 
I have a candy cane one that is old that a friend of mine made years ago for me.
For me I have pine cones in the yard, but I think you can get them for a reasonable price.

[CaliGalRach]

When I was a kid we got glitter and regular elmer's glue. We'd put a little bit of glue on the tips of the pinecones and sprinkle them with glitter. Then we'd hang them on our tree.

[danibartlett]

We have one made into a skier.  It has large craft sticks for the skis, a wooden ball for the head (with a face painted on) a hat and scarf mad out of felt and ski poles made out of skewers with one of those star shaped beads on the end (the ones that kind of interlock when you stack them)

Danielle

Creative Memories Consultant

www.mycmsite.com/daniellebartlett

[mariposamom]

these are great ideas thanks so much!
heather

[J-M]

Make them into bird feeders.

attach looped twine to the top of the pine cone
spread with peanut butter
roll in birdseed
hang outside and enjoy the birds

~~ J-M

"The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired in value." - Theodore Roosevelt

[JaxonsHotMomma]

Spray paint white & with white feathers, make doves. 
Also they make great turkeys. 
& snow paint,  i dont know the name of it, but it's thick & looks like snow. 

[lisac1965]

Quoting CaliGalRach:

When I was a kid we got glitter and regular elmer's glue. We'd put a little bit of glue on the tips of the pinecones and sprinkle them with glitter. Then we'd hang them on our tree.

Same here. Glue, glitter, then staple a ribbon on top to hang!

[auroragold]

Last year I led a craft for 5/6/7 year olds using pine cones. We turned them into angels.  Certainly you could adapt to your own desires/budget but here's what I did:

-used wooden balls purchased at a craft store. They need to have a hole in one side.
-got hot glue all inside the hole on the wooden ball and then inserted the end of the pine cone into the hole and let dry.

You now have a body with a head

-for wings we used everything from sprigs of pine branches (real and fake), leaves from silk flowers - you could even draw them out of cardboard.  Just glue on a pair - fly them up, fly them down - you pick

- a pipe cleaner wrapped wround the back and meeting in the front becomes arms.  They can hold sprigs of berries, candycanes, snowflake - anything you can think of!  Those $1 picks at the craft store become very useful!

-for hair I had the kids use spanish moss - you get a LOT of angel hair from one bag!  But you can use yarn or even leave them bald.

-for halos I bought a bag of wedding ring favors. They're the perfect size halo to glue on top of the hair!

-draw the face on with markers or leave with no face.
-add glitter or leave plain.
-add ribbons, bows - whatever you want

As you see, the possibilities are endless and the cost is minimal!


What did we do with the leftover pinecones?  Rolled in peanut butter and birdseed and fed our feathered friends!

AURORAGOLD
Homeschooling Group Owner
Secular Homeschooling Group Admin
Green Thumb Society Group Admin
"The purpose of education is not to impose the values of the adult world onto children but to help them to grow toward their own personal potential." (Miller, 1997)

[beachbride]

I know my mom has bought scented pinecones several years to put in a basket by the fireplace (so when it gets warm they make the house smell). I dont know how you get them scented...I assume a few drops of oil would work or maybe you could soak them in something. But they smell really nice and look pretty in a basket too.

[auroragold]

bumping this up