Pine Cone Tree Tutorial

All the fall Pinterest pins have inspired me to start thinking fall.  I am so ready to say goodbye to this hot, humid weather. It was actually 101 degrees here again today!!  Hurry up fall.  I promised a tutorial on this pine cone tree that I made last fall.  Please excuse my daughter's pink Snuggie on the couch.  :)

I actually made 4 of these trees last year.  Pine cones are definitely plentiful here in the south.  These trees were so fun and easy to make that I just kept on until I ran out of pines cones.  Having five huge Pine trees around my playground at school doesn't help my pine cone addiction.  My students last year saw me picking them up and decided it was so fun that before I knew it, I had bags of pine cones. :)  I apologize that the photos are not that great because they were taken with my phone.  This was before my blogging days, and the only reason I took the photos was to show my students what I made with the pine cones.

Here is the tutorial for making these cute little trees.  Please keep in mind, that our pine cones this year are not plentiful yet, even after hurricane winds.  So I made due with what I could find, and these aren't as pretty.  

The first step is to cut a piece of cardboard. This is actually from a cereal box. Lovely photo, huh?  

Next try to find pine cones that are all about the same size.  There is a smaller one that I used to fill in a small hole at the base.  Using the hot glue gun, just glue securely to the cardboard.  Warning......this project uses lots of glue sticks.  

The next part is like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together.  Layer after layer, glue the pine cones using the size that fits best in each place.  

Here is a side view after three rows of pine cones.  Notice the slight hole in the middle.  You can easily go back later and fill in the holes with tiny pine cones.  At this point, start bringing the cones in some so that the hole is the middle gets smaller as you go up.  This is what makes it narrower at the top.  

You want you inside circle to close in as you go up.   Depending on how fast you close the circle in will determine the height of your tree.  

Almost to the top in the photo below.  I've reached the point where I would've preferred to use smaller cones if I had them.  You can also trim them back if you need them to fit better.  

Here is an up close of the tree from last year.  Notice how I had smaller cones to work with.  

The fun thing about making these trees is that each one comes out looking different.  Even turning it around will sometimes give you a different look.  Here is the finished tree I made yesterday.  Because this is a tutorial, I wanted to show you how to remedy gaps in the tree.  Notice the arrow has a blank spot that needs a tiny pine cone.  Yep, tomorrow I will be searching for that small pine cone to fill that gap.  Just keep working with your tree until you get the desired look you want.  Be sure you remove all the little glue strings, too!  I rushed this project so I could get it posted.  I'm pretty messy with the glue gun.  We won't even talk about how much I have to clean off my kitchen table.  :)

 I am going to share two more trees from last fall, but be warned...they were taken with my phone.

 Here is a small one I put on the top of my kitchen cabinets.   Mr. Ed was not happy something new was in his secret sleeping spot!   I added sparkly ribbon to it for Christmas, and put a few small bows on it.  The photo below is one tree that I placed in front of my fireplace and added ribbon to it.  Notice the gold pine cone on top.  I ran out of small ones and used one that I had sprayed to put in my lanterns.  This year, I think I am going to spray a couple of the trees gold for Christmas.

If you have followed my blog for any amount of time, you know I like to leave you with my lessons learned the hard way.  Number one, when you use decorations for fall and again for Christmas, don't pack them up so you can't get to them!!  Yes, they are wrapped up and stacked behind mounds of Christmas decorations. I plan on tackling that major project this weekend.  Lesson Number 2,  don't store your hot glued trees in the garage when your summer temperatures are in the 100s.  One tree wouldn't fit in my storage closet, not thinking, I put it in the garage.  Let's just say I now have a blob of pine cones loaded with glue.  :)  I think it was probably the tree in the picture above.  I will let you know if I'm able to salvage that project.  I also think I will spray a protective coat on the trees this year.  

I can't wait to see your pine cone trees!  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions that I didn't answer in the tutorial.  I am always here to help. 

Kathy 

To see more winter pine cone ideas, you can check out my Winter Pine Cone Trees here!