We love crafting with found objects from nature. Pine cones are especially awesome because they can be so many things! And working with them allows us to appreciate their sacred geometry patterns. Until we started painting these guys, I had never really noticed the perfect spirals. This is called the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio or divine proportion, and it exists everywhere: plants, chicken eggs, space, fingerprints, art and architecture, to name a few.
What's interesting about the golden ratio is many artists compose their art according to its proportions (maybe without consciously using it) because it's pleasing to the eye--the natural order of our world. I love how so many little things have a broader context. I like tying in those connections because it adds so much richness to our everyday life. Here's a great explanation for artists if you'd like to go deeper into divine proportion for yourself or with older children.
Below are four pine cone projects that are super fun and great as gifts, ornaments or keepsakes.
*Please see cleaning instructions at the bottom of this post before working with pine cones and especially acorns.*
This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (and no cost to you). Thank you for your support!
This project is really simple but allows your child to highlight the shapes and dimension of the pine cone. We used several different colors to study the different surfaces.
Supplies:
Pinecone
Directions:
Mix your paints to make your favorite colors. Add white to your paint for extra coverage on the pine cone (otherwise the paint will be too translucent). Paint your pine cone. You can also add glitter before the paint dries.
Choose your wooden beads. We placed ours on a BBQ skewer to keep them from rolling around while painting them. You can also add glitter, of course.
Once everything is dry, tie a string to the top of the pine cone or add a wire hook with hot glue. We like fancy gold string for this project. String your beads and leave room at the end of the string for tying as a decoration. We have an "art branch" hanging in our house for these kinds of projects, but this would look great hanging from a curtain rod or hook.
Supplies:
Short, round pinecone (the one pictured above is from a spruce)
Directions:
Begin by separating the felting wool into large sections/strands. We did all blue, but multicolored would be awesome. With a felting needle or pencil, gently push the wool in between the pine cone petals. Make him look nice and fluffy.
Cut out your felt shapes for the wings, eyes and beak. We gave this guy a big beak, but a tiny beak might look more owlish. You can experiment with different sizes to get the look you want.
Attach your googly eyes to the felt with felt glue (the bigger the eyes the better, in my opinion). Create your wings with felt. We embellished ours with little felt cutouts. You could also cut out felt in fish scale shapes or glue colorful feathers to add extra dimension and color to the wings.
Heat up your glue gun and begin assembling the owl. I started with the face, placing a small dot of glue on the felt and placing it on the owl. Use tweezers if you want to be extra careful to keep your fingers out of the hot glue. We placed the wings up to make him fly. You could also place them flat against his body. Hot glue a loop made of jewelry wire or string to the back for hanging.
Finish the project with two small feather ear tufts affixed with felt glue.
Here's another owl we made! See the tutorial here.
We make seasonal fairies to celebrate holidays. Omit the ears to make this a regular fairy and do any color scheme you like.
Supplies:
Pinecone
Ribbon (2 inch pictured)
Nail polish (metallic pictured)
Directions:
Choose a wooden bead for the face. I used the wooden tip of a paint brush to make the eyes and cheeks with nail polish and a thin sharpie to draw the mouth and eye lashes.
While the face dries, paint your pinecone and/or wrap with yarn. Add white to your paint for extra coverage on the pine cone (otherwise the paint is too translucent). You can also add glitter before the paint dries. If you're giving your fairy arms, cut a section of pipe cleaner (about 3 inches--depending on the size of the pine cone) and attach the wooden beads for hands with felt glue. We did a white metallic nail polish on the hands.
Cut out the felt bunny ears (2 inches in length). I made them extra long to create a "tab" at the bottom for the glue. Attach the ears to the wooden bead with felt glue or hot glue. If using felt glue, hold the little tabs down for a minute or two to make sure they stick. Next, cut the yarn for the hair. We used two-inch strands. Then outline the hair line with felt glue and begin attaching the hair. We used the rainbow yarn for the hair, and it came out cool.
While the head dries, choose your felt for the wings. We use felt already cut in 4x4 inch squares. Use a pencil or pen to lightly draw a grid that outlines 4 equal squares on the felt or make the top two quadrants larger (like a butterfly wing). Make cuts toward the center along the 4 quadrants being careful to leave them all connected in the center. Cut the corners to shape the wings. You can do 4 hearts for a clover look, round the edges or cut straighter lines (shown above). You can bedazzle the wings with craft jewels, glitter and glue or layer with more felt cut into shapes.
Assemble your fairy using hot glue. Start with the head, then the arms, attach a wire for hanging and also the ribbon for the skirt. Then add the wings.
For the crown, make a little circle with the wire to match the size of the fairy's head. Thread the sequins through the wire. Close the wire by wrapping the ends. We made a little crown using rose gold jewelry wire and sequins to match her outfit. With a needle and thread, sew the crown into hair with a few little loops and tie them off with a knot.
Supplies:
Pinecone
Acorn cap
Directions:
Choose a wooden bead for the face. I used a thin black sharpie to draw the mouth and eyes and red sharpie for the cheeks.
Next paint your pinecone and/or wrap with yarn. Add white to your paint for extra coverage on the pine cone (otherwise the paint is too translucent). You can also add glitter before the paint dries. If you're giving your fairy arms, cut a section of pipe cleaner (about 3 inches--depending on the size of the pine cone) and attach the wooden beads for hands with felt glue.
Next, cut the yarn for the hair. We used two-inch strands. Then outline the hair line with felt glue and begin attaching the hair.
While the head dries, choose your felt for the wings. We use felt already cut in 4x4 inch squares. Use a pencil or pen to lightly draw a grid that outlines 4 equal squares on the felt or make the top two quadrants larger (like a butterfly wing). Make cuts toward the center along the 4 quadrants being careful to leave them all connected in the center. Cut the corners to shape the wings. You can do 4 hearts for a clover look like Shamrock's wings, round the edges or cut straighter lines. You can bedazzle the wings with craft jewels, glitter and glue or layer with more felt cut into shapes. We cut felt hearts for Shamrock's wings.
Assemble your fairy using hot glue. Attach the head to the pine cone. Then glue the acorn cap to the top of her head. Then attach the arms and a wire for hanging. Then fasten the wings.
*OK. PSA for working with pine cones and especially acorns.
PINE CONES: To avoid bringing bugs into your house, you can soak your pine cones in a bucket with water and apple cider vinegar (1c vinegar in a gallon of water--doesn't need to be exact, though). Let them air dry or put them on a cookie sheet and bake in a warm oven until dry.
ACORNS: Spread your acorns in one layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. This will prevent maggots from burrowing out of your acorns in a few weeks time. And, yes, I learned that the hard way!