My daughter and I have been collecting pine cones for a while from various places (neighbor's yard and outside the place where we get our oil changed). She loves it! It's like picking up Easter eggs! She's all "Another one! Another one! Another one!"
However, she is not interested in making any pine cone crafts at this point (I've tried a few). So, I went searching for something do myself. And boom, the fall garland idea was made! I looked at several Pinterest ideas and combined a few together (I couldn't tell you where they all come from; sorry!). Here's how I made it.
Pine Cone Garland Supplies:
- About 60 pine cones or more (various sizes)
- Thin jute cord
- Thick jute cord
- Scissors
- 20-30 eye screws (silver or gold) for unopened pine cones
- Support hooks
1) Collect pine cones (or buy them at a craft store):
I collected a little over 60 pine cones with my daughter. It's heavy so make sure you have some good supporting hooks to hold yours up. I already had mine installed for other garlands that I've made (Valentine's, Christmas, etc.). I baked mine at 250 degrees for 40 minutes to get rid of bugs. You could also buy them at a craft store, but you can't beat free!
2) Cut the thick jute cord to approximately the length you want:
I left mine long and I doubled the cord so that it's super strong. And I added knots about every 8-9 inches. The knots helped keep the two lengths of cord together, but it also helped me spread my pine cones evenly.
3) Tie the thin jute to the pine cones:
For most pine cones, I weaved the cord through the bottom most layer of each of the pine cones and tied a knot. For the pine cones that haven't opened up, I screwed in an eye screw and then tied the jute to the eye screw. I used about a foot and a half for each pine cone.
4) Keep at it and store them in a bag as you go:
Pine cones, especially ones you pick up, can get a little messy, storing them in a bag to catch some of the debris and shacking the over a trash can while you work with them can be helpful.
5) Add them to the thick jute cord:
I added about 10-14 pine cones per 8-9 inches of jute. I just tied them with an overhand bow knot. Once tied, you can slide the knots and the cones closer together. I placed each new pine cone in a gap left between the others already on the garland. Sometimes that gaps are obvious, sometimes they aren't. I just made sure to make my placement and the size of pine cone random.
6) Once you're done, you can choose to chop off the string for a pine cone only look:
I've decided to leave the excess string. It looks really neat, almost like tassels or dried pine needles. Don't forget to tie a knot at the end and chop off the extra jute.
7) Hang it on your mantel or above a door and enjoy:
