Candy Corn Painted Pine Cone Garland

When you have hundreds of small pine cones in a box that you can’t just help but to pick up more every time you take the dog for a walk, you start to become very creative in finding new ways to use them in craft projects.

In previous posts, I have written about the Fall decorations for my side porch.  As part of the whole display, I create this easy DIY Candy Corn Painted Pine Cone Garland that is just too adorable.

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Candy Corn Painted Pine Cone Garland

For this project you will need:

• Acrylic paints in yellow, white, and orange
• Small pine cones
• Craft Paint Brushes
• Jute Twine
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Strips of burlap ribbon
• Strips of white denim ribbon or white burlap ribbon

If you are using pine cones that you have collected yourself, don’t forget to clean and bake them to kill off the insect eggs and mold that can grow inside pine cones.  Just soak the pine cones in a bowl of hot water for a while.  You can even add some vinegar to the water mix to help kill off anything still living in the pine cones.

The pine cones will usually close back at this point as well.  Line a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper and put the wet pine cones on the cookie sheet in a single layer.  Heat the over to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the pine cones for at least an hour to two hours, flipping them over once during the process.  If it is a warm sunny day, you can also put the cookie trays out in the sunshine and let nature dry them back out.

For a much faster way to use natural pine cones, or if you don’t have a way to collect free pine cones on your own, order pre-treated ones on Amazon.

Paint the pine cones in the three colors of the popular Fall treat of candy corn!

I actually painted these pine cones about two years ago and have displayed them each Fall season around the house in jars or bowls.  The process if very easy to duplicate with acrylic paints and a small paint brush that fits between the scales of the pine cones.

The reason why I decided to paint the pine cones to look like candy corn is because is there anything other candy that arrives on the shelves each year in late summer that just triggers a memory of childhood more than candy corn?  So delicious!

Create the look of a piece of candy corn by simply painting a section of each pine cone in orange, yellow, and white. First, I painted the entire pine cone in white, and then added the yellow and orange paint to the tips of the pine cones in sections to resemble a piece of candy corn. So easy!

To add the burlap and white denim ribbon between each pine cone, I first cut up the burlap and ribbon into short 8 inch strips.  I used a hot glue glue to easily attach the pine cones to a cut length of jute twine every 6 inches.  Then I tied a strip between each pine cone alternating between the burlap and the denim ribbon.  This project is so easy but be careful not to burn your fingers on the hot glue.

And that was it.  Very easy and inexpensive to make.  In the display, I draped the pine cone garland over an old fence gate and around the chevron painted board.

This was such a fun fall display to put together.  

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If you want to know how to make the painted board in the background, check out my post on How to create a Chevron Pattern.

Hugs,

“We can gather our thoughts, but the Lord gives the right answer.”  Proverbs 16:1