Painted Pine Cone Door Hanging

That crafty Red Ted Art set a challenge recently to get crafting with nature. Obviously I pointed to the fabulous Autumn Nature Wreath that Dimples and I made, but she demanded that I do better. So I did.

Dimples and I had cause to stay inside one day. Rain- bleurgh. But I had some fabulous  new metallic acrylic paints that I was eager to use and a bowl of pinecones we had garnered weeks earlier when out and about.

So we painted them. With five different colours, we took it in stages. As most young children have a relentless desire to blend any number of colours into a non-descript grey-brown, I tried to avoid this by offering only one colour at a time. We sat side by side painting individual ‘leaves’ of the cones, letting them dry between colours. (I wasn’t so mean that I didn’t give Dimples a few to go mad on in her own unique way.)

Once they were dry I put them in a glass dish in the playroom so that Dimples could get them out whenever she wanted. They looked so very beautiful.

Then I had an idea.

So I bought three lengths of ribbon, cut it into different lengths and used a glue gun to attach a pine cone to the end of each ribbon length. Once all the cones were dried, I spent a while arranging them until I was happy with the design before securing the loose ends of ribbon with a bow. And I hung it on our front door to welcome Autumn.

 

I recently shared this craft on a hangout with some crafty UK bloggers, hosted by the unshakeable Maggy at Red Ted Art. She made some dear little Pine Cone Babies– which feature in her new and utterly fabulous craft book. Kid’s Chaos made an adorable hedgehog using a cone and air drying clay, whilst Plus 2 point 4 did some printing with pine cones, which make fabulous wrapping paper. The ever-creative Zing Zing Tree made a very adaptable felt animal creation, that you can mix and match and Mum at the Madhouse made a lovely little owl that I adored. The Frog & The Fairy made some adorable small world play trees and a Christmas tree for a doll’s house, which is such a wonderful way to really bring nature into your home for young children. Proving that great ideas are very simple, Liz at Me and My Shadow made the most elegant pin-able Pine Cone Photo Holders. I wish I had that kind of creativity?

If you fancy a watch and a giggle- things didn’t quite go to plan- then you can watch the Pine-Cone Craft Hangout here.