Painted Pine Cone Sunflower Wreath
As I bend over to pick up yet another small pine cone in my yard, I ask myself, “Why do you need to pick up more pine cones? You have hundreds of them already in a box!” Yet I picked up another one and stuffed it in my pocket while considering many projects I could use it for.
Early in the Fall, I am blessed with hundreds of small pine cones in my yard. Each year, I try to figure out a new craft or home décor project to make with them. This year, I came up with an idea for a Painted Pine Cone Sunflower Wreath. It has been one of my favorites and most popular posts.
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This week, I have been putting together projects to decorate my side entrance door for the new fall season. I’m still not sure how it will look in the end, but I’ve included in this post one of the décor projects I have added to the space.
This whole idea started when I began collecting the small pinecones in my yard after each storm this summer.
We have pine trees that are over 100 feet tall, but for some reason, they produce some of the most adorable small pinecones. I can’t ignore them when they are so plentiful in the yard and free for crafting.
Painted Pine Cone Sunflower Wreath
For this project you will need:
- Assorted pine cones in sizes of your choosing
- Vinegar
- Water
- Acrylic Paints
- Craft Brushes
- Hot Glue Gun
- Glue Sticks
- 10″ White Paper Plate
- 12″ wire wreath frame
- Wired Green Burlap Ribbon
- Floral Wire
- Newspapers or wax paper
So, last weekend, I started out with a shoebox full of small pine cones ready to be cleaned and sanitized.
This step included soaking them in warm water and then drying them outside in the sun. You also baked them in a 200-degree oven for about two hours on a foil-lined cookie sheet. This helps to kill any bugs, bug eggs, or mold that may be inside the pine cones. It makes for a woodsy smell in the house, but believe me, you don’t want to skip this step.
You can also purchase bags of pine cones on Amazon for a much quicker way to make this sunflower wreath.
Painting so many small pine cones will take a little bit of time!
I then spent a few hours painting the pine cones in several shades of yellow and brown (for the sunflower’s center).
While doing this, I suggest you put on a good movie, pick up a paint brush, and just paint. I used acrylic craft paints for this project. This part can be tedious at best, so just enjoy your movie. Painting the pine cones brown for the center makes them stand out more against the yellow-painted pine cones.
To create a sunflower look with a black-painted center filled with miniature pine cones, I first hot-glued a 10″ paper plate to the back of my 12″ wire wreath from Dollar Tree.
Then you just start gluing on the pine cones one by one to the wire frame.
For my version, I used the larger pine cones around the outer edge and the smaller ones towards the middle. The smaller ones were then used to fill in the gaps around them to hide the wire and paper plate. But for your own, you can decide how you want the faux sunflower to look.
You will end up with about three or four different layers of pine cones.
The paper plate will form the center of the sunflower design. Use more hot glue to secure the brown painted pine cones directly in the middle of the plate to create the center of the flower.
One thing to keep in mind while you are painting the pinecones is that if you think you have enough, paint about 10 to 15 more. You will find that you need them anyway.
To create the look of greenery and leaves around the wreath, I glued dark green burlap ribbon in loops to the back of the plate.
Since this wreath is a bit heavy, I used wire to make a hanger. I tried jute string, but the knot pulled loose, and the wreath fell off the wall.
I had to paint a few additional pinecones to repair the damage, so I suggest you start with a strong wire the first time.
Pin For Later!
Hugs,
“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” Matthew 7:1
Similar posts for you to enjoy:
Fall Floral Arrangement with Painted Pine Cones
Easy To Make Pine Cone Christmas Trees and Topiaries
An Afternoon of Painting Pine Cones
I absolutely love this. I was wondering what to do with the millions (O K I exaggerate) of pine cones left over from Christmas….now I know. Thank you.
I think I have millions of these still in the back yard. I’m glad you liked the wreath. I’m going to have to think of some news things to make with them this year.
Gorgeous! What more can I say… Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
What a great wreath! I love it. #HomeMattersParty
Your wreath is so adorable!! I may have to think about a craft with pinecones for this fall now. #HomeMattersParty
You are so lucky to have pinecones in your yard. There’s not many trees where we live, and I meant to gather some while we were camping out of state where there were tons around but I forgot! My kids really want to make some pinecone crafts this fall. Love your pretty pinecone wreath! Stopping by from the #HomeMattersParty linkup.
Thanks Nicole
Hi Donna! This is so cute! I can so relate to your comment about not knowing what the space will look like in the end but you put all of your projects and ideas together and it all comes together to create something amazing!
Thanks Colleen and welcome to the party.
What is the ratio of vinegar to water for the initial soaking?
Hey Laura. I use a 3 to 1 ratio of 3 cups of water to one cup of vinegar.
Thanks! Can’t wait to get started.
This is such a cute project. I like how you took simple pinecones and turned it into something extra special.
Thank you for sharing this with us on the #HomeMattersParty. We hope to see you again next Friday at 12 AM EST when we open our doors.
Thanks Crystal
Hi Donna, just hopping back to let you know that you will be featured at Share Your Cup later today.
hugs,
Jann
Thanks Jann. I will be sure to check it out.
I really should do this. We have 6 pine trees on our property! Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing. You are one of the features at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link to this week’s bash. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2016/09/make-pretty-monday-week-192.html Have a happy week! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thanks for featuring me this past week. Love your link-up and site. You should try to reuse those pinecones if possible. Have a great week.
Very pretty wreath! I have a huge bag of pinecones I gathered from our trip to the mountains and now I have an idea of what to do with them. Visiting from Craftastic Monday party.
Thanks Victoria. I will see you at this week’s party.
Donna, thanks for sharing the practical steps when bringing nature into our house. Love the final look of the wreath. Sylvia D.
Thanks Sylvia
I think it turned out darling! They are the cutest little pinecones and I love the variation of colors. Thanks for sharing it with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Oh gosh…this is such a neat idea!!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thanks Jess. I will share it tomorrow.
I love this craft – I am going to have to collect cones down in the woods this weekend – thank you for sharing at I am Pinnable Donna
Hey AnnMarie. I have tried to spray paint pinecones before and because the paint goes on in such a fine mist the cones just soaked it up. I have since found some other Pinterest posts where they show that you need to do a prime coat first and then spray paint them. I haven’t tried it again so not sure. Worth another try for sure just to make the process faster. Thanks for visiting.
I love this wreath….sunflowers are my favorite flower and this is such a creative way to showcase them. I wonder if you spray painted the pinecones if it would go faster! Of course then you couldn’t watch tv while doing it. I am pinning this on my I Love Wreaths board.
Hi Donna: I have a question, Are the pine cones in the center painted brown or black or is that the natural color of them ? Thank you
Hey Sandra. I didn’t paint the pinecones for the center and just left them at their natural color. I’m thinking my next one I will paint them black to stand out more.
What a darling idea………..it came out so well, and really looks cute……….and so
nice for Fall too.
Blessings, Nellie
Thanks Nellie.
I love sunflowers. This wreath project is awesome. I am going to try it. Your wreath came out so beautiful. Love this, thanks so much for posting this.
Thanks Sandra. I would love to see pictures if you make one.
I AM GOING TO MAKE ONE WITH BLUE COLORS FOR OUR POLICE OFFICERS..THEN FOR ALL OF OUR VETS WHO SERVED AND GAVE THERE LIVES FOR THIS COUNTRY.
Great idea, I hadn’t thought of that. I was just thinking of making one in pink for a friend of mine. Good luck.
what a great project – and you’ve made it seem pretty easy to do! A perfect fall project. Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY party.
Thanks Helen. This project is fairly easy, but I certainly burnt my fingers a couple of times on the glue. Lessons learned for next time.