- Me: Hey guys, who wants to go on a pinecone hunt with me?
- 8 year old: Yeah!!! Come on, everyone! Let’s go on a family pinecone hunt! (Yes, she really did say that.)
- 11 year old: Ehhh, I think I’ll just stay in here.
It’s official. 11 years old is apparently the age in which our annual pinecone hunt is no longer worthy enough to get my son to go with us. Never fear. He went. With some persuasion.
It’s at this time of year, that I find myself once again on the prowl for some free, natural items to decorate with. Thank goodness for our backyard.
While my daughter daintily carried her basket and picked the “perfect” cones, this is how my son decided to hunt.
Even my husband decided to get in on the search. Notice his vice grip. Poor little cone was probably screaming for dear life!
And then there’s the Nemesis. He kept catching deer scent, so he was running around all over the place. This is the only picture I have. And it’s of his butt.
Luckily, the hunt proved very plentiful for us! My husband kept saying, “Isn’t that enough?” Poor guy. So naive.
Well. Wanna see how I did it? Here we go. First of all…I gathered a lot of pinecones. 
I had a styrofoam wreath in my basement (yes, really) that I decided to use. I think it was about $5.00. I spray painted it brown so it wouldn’t show through as much when the pinecones went on. I couldn’t find my dark brown paint, but I would recommend that in the future.
At first, I tried to place the pinecones in some sort of pattern, but it really didn’t work out for me. I basically placed them on one at a time and squished them into some sort of fit.
I worried about the top first, then I plugged the cones onto the exterior and interior sides.
Once it was all done, I went back with some tiny pinecones and filled in some gaps that I thought showed too much.
While it only cost me $5.00 to make, I’ll admit it took me a while to do. I’d say it took 3 episodes of General Hospital and a half a Lions’ football game. Yes, that’s how I think.
Oh, and a ton of glue sticks. Like, literally a ton. I guess you can imagine how heavy this wreath is then.
This is a sneak peek of the fall mantle. I’ll be back later to show the rest!
{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
The hunt looks like fun and your wreath is beautiful!
nice! i've made a wreath like that before…i found TEENY TINY pinecones while on vacation in tennessee that were perfect! over the years 50% of the pinecones have fallen off and i've been too lazy to reglue them. lol and if you think your son doesn't want to pinecone hunt at 11…just wait until he's 14 and you have to threaten him within an inch of his life to do ANYTHING. joy.
The wreath is beautiful. I love how you count time…in GH episodes. Cute.
This is gorgeous…too bad we threw away a zillion pinecones while cleaning up the backyard this weekend! Would have been a great excuse to pull out my hot glue gun.
Janell
Beautiful! I love the wide orange ribbon, too!
It looks perfect! Great job!
So cute! I L.O.V.E. that you went out as a family to collect the cones! Now when your kids see the wreath they will have such good family memories
Can I do this with just my husband….?
http://www.uvinyl.com
http://www.uvinyl.blogspot.com
Looks like a great family project. We always look for pine cones when we go down south but I have never made a wreath out of mine.
Wow, what a fun activity to do with the fam and such a pretty outcome! Jenn (ThisMommyLoves.com)
Oh my goodness! That is so pretty! By the way, my dogs butt looks just like your dog's butt.
This is really cute and simple!! I might try it out myself. Thanks for posting!!!
Your wreath is beautiful, definitely worth the work. I love the ribbon and the way you tied it too.
WOW! That turned out BeAuTiFuL!!! What a simple craft to try.
It's gorgeous! I love how you think of time – we are kindred spirits. I think of dollars by how much it costs for my favorite bacon blue cheese burger.
I love your humor! Your wreath turned out great! You've got me thinking now!!!!!
This looks lovely… It was definitely worth all the effort, though pine cone hunting with the family doesn't sound so bad!
Love it!!!
Love love love love it! This would look great on any door.
I love it, my favorite fall decorations are natural. I love the contrast of the silky ribbon with the texture of the pinecones, too.
It turned out amazing, makes me want to go on a pine cone hunt. Can't wait to see the rest of the mantle.
Oh, wow, I love that. We don't have any pine trees here, but the kids are going to my parents' next weekend and I may have to send them with an assignment.
It really is beautiful.
Deb
I love it! It's gorgeous. It's great how it was a family activity first, and then some creative time for you. I wanna make one now.
I love how you wrote this post! It was so real they way you wrote it. I love the wreath, the cool thing is that you can change out the ribbon and use it for Christmas!
This is so pretty! I love it. You could even change the colored ribbon or little embellishements with the changing seasons. Very creative.
This is so pretty! I love that you can change the ribbon with the season and add embellishments with each changing holiday. Gorgeous!
Gorgeous! I can see why it must have taken so long! That's dedication : )
I love the wreath! I can't wait for the mantle reveal.
Gorgeous and inexpensive. Gotta love that.
You make me laugh…the wreath looks great. Maybe Nemesis wanted you to get a shot of "his good side." Dogs can be vain too you know.
simply beautiful!
So pretty!! What a special wreath to be made by all members of the family!
Karen
Oh gosh don't remind me. I already have two bags of pinecones in my basement waiting to be turned into a wreath.
Well now that I have seen yours I might spring into action. No really, I might!
That is gorgeous, simply stunning and on my list of must haves!
Oh my, I love it! I made one almost just like it about 2 weeks ago. It is a lot of work but the price is right!
GORGEOUS! WOW! I would go on a pinecone hunt ANYDAY!
No luck with pinecones here…I have to get them on eBay and Etsy! LOL
Saw you over at Better After…I love the wreath!! It looks great ~ just became a follower!
Kaitlyn @ The Birds Nest
http://nestdecorator.blogspot.com
It is beautiful and worth the effort!!
Gorgeous! Love love love it!
I love it! It looks fab. Looking forward to seeing your mantel so I can copy it again. Mine currently is bare and waiting for your inspiration
. I kid, I kid…kind of.
Wow! That's beautiful. I am in need of a new Christmas wreath. And this one would be in season all winter long!
Beautiful … Wonder if my 8yr old would like to go on a pinecone hunt. Funny, I just made a topiary and I said it took my 2 movies and an episode of Dexter, lol.
Hahaha,great story- and love the wreath!! Good colour combo with the orange ribbon !!
I was in South Carolina at boot camp in 1990, and while marching out to our weapon training course we stopped to take a break and I found pinecones the size of a small poodle laying on the side of the road. I think the drills questioned my choice to join the Army reserves as they watched me get REALLY excited about how much $$ I could have made by collecting and selling those things.
Great job!!!
that is gorgeous!
your wreath is BEAUTIFUL!
Yep, I LOVE this wreath!!!
I made one like this a couple of weeks ago…however my pine cones came from a yard sale where I got a huge box for $2.00…still had a lot left over too. I agree on the amount of glue sticks it took…but the looks fantastic – check out the picture of it on my blog.
Okay, I LOVE this wreath! But I MUST ASK… what did you do about the potential BUGS lurking in those cones before using them? Also, do you have problems with SAP from the cones?
I would like to use some cones in my decor… but I always worry about BUGS and SAP. Both are … well… EWWWWWWW…
That is gorgeous. And how easy it can be used for Christmas with just a change of ribbon. Great job.
Oh Man I love what those little pinecones have turned into!! Gorgeous.\\
Unfortunately, our (family) pinecone hunt would involve Pottery Barn and 10 dollar pine cones.
~sigh~
It would be cool to make little ones and place candles in the middle for Thanksgiving centerpieces! Now you've got my mind thinking…
it would be pretty to buy mini pinecones (unless you could actually find them) and make mini wreaths for ornaments. I have only "natural" ornaments and my be trying this…
Absolutely gorgeous! I love it!
Great job, lady.
I think it was well worth all of those hours. Your wreath is beautiful!
Plus, you got some show-watching in,too.
Totally in love, Chris! This looks fab.u.lous. ~ Stephanie Lynn
Wow, it turned out beautiful! I love how the whole family got in on the activity; what great fun. And love, the satin ribbon!
I can't remember where but there is an internet site that will take a person's entire blog and create it into a book. It would be great fun to look back and read this story when the kids are older.
Hahaha, the picture of your son in the tree reminds me of the one of your hubby in the tree a few posts ago. The wreath turned out great! Brown pine cones against the deep orange are the perfect combo.
Thanks for the fun family post.
Sarah
Your wreath looks fantastic.. I love it!
It really turned out nice Chris. Good job. You can use this as a table Center Piece too. You didn't mention if you hot glued each one or just here and there? I loved that the whole family got into the hunt. What a wonderful family outing. It's things like that that kids remember when there old.
Mom
PS: This would make a nice gift for your mother too. Maybe just a small one? Hint Hint… HE HE HE
Mom
looks great! yay for pinecones!
Last year, I wanted to make one of these so bad. Then one day while out thrifting I found a small one already made. Yay! SO much easier. haha! I think yours is wonderful. I especially love the orange ribbon.
that is SO beautiful! It's deceiving; those pine cones seem so light until you pile them all up together, lol! great idea. we have pinecones galore around here!
This wreath is fabulous!!! I wonder if I could get the Hubs to hunt pine cones with me……
What a pretty wreath! I bought a pinecone wreath last year, since my neighbourhood is seriously lacking in trees. As I was paying for it I grumbled to myself that I was paying for something I could have made for free.
Your pinecone wreath turn out Beautiful! I know my little Princess would love to do one with me:)Great craft idea!
My daughter, husband and I collected a bucket full of pine cones on evening. I was so sweet collecting them with Alice. She calls them "cone-cones" I planned on making a pine cone wreath and had saved a couple tutorials. I love this one. I am definitely using yours when I make mine! Thanks so much for sharing.
I am late to comment but this is so beautiful! Seriously thinking of going around the neighborhood to see if I find some.
Your pinecone wreath is absolutely gorgeous, I have a little tree in my garden with some pine cones on it, but not enough yet to make a wreath, I will just have to keep saving them. TFS
Did that years ago and mine was VERY HEAVY also. Family thing to the woods and used real grapevine. FYI – too heavy to begin with !
I’m not a big fan of wreaths, but I just love this one and being from the Pine Tree State, I shouldn’t have any trouble finding pine cones!
Thanks for sharing this idea and the tutorial!
I’m pretty picky about wreaths too, Vanessa. I do love the pinecone ones though! Thanks for stopping by!
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