PINE CONE Craft Ideas

I wreath would not be appropiate for children so little. You will need to use tools and items that are not safe.

bird feeder - tie a sring on the end, cover with peanut butter and roll in bird seed

ornament - tie on a pretty ribbon, paint with elmers glue, and sprinkle with glitter. I still have some that we made about 10 years ago.

mini trees - if you can find ones with nice flat bottoms you can paint them green, and then decorate with beads - not a good project for the little kids

When pine cones are immersed in cold water, like in the bathtub, they close. I made wreaths one year for everyone made out of them.

When the cones are tightly closed you press the bottom the cone through the wire, not forced so much and really pressed in. Then as they get worm they open back up. Once they are dry some may pop out but just get them wet again and maybe use a different size. I always try to pick up smaller ones for this craft. That way they slide in easily and when they open back up they are caught on the wire and stay.

Once the cones are full and the wreath is pretty looking add whatever decorations you like. I had a small electric skillet, maybe for doing eggs, and I put it on the lowest setting where glue sticks would melt. That way I could just touch the soft glue and put the item on the wreath instantly. I used a lot of red berries and some other items taken off the little cheap picks.

In my honest opinion you should NOT, NOT, put fragrance on any wreaths or other crafts due to people having issues with allergies. I am not currently able to go to Walmart or some of the grocery stores because they are stocking the cinnamon scented pine cones. I nearly stopped breathing the other day when I came around the end of a counter and there they were. Other people have issues too so I just say although it is tempting to just spray a bit of fragrance on, please don't.

Here is a picture of the wreath forms I used. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby or Walmart. They may not carry them anymore, it was a few years ago.
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/wirwreatfor.html

Here are some links to pine cone wreaths already made up.

Martha Stewart's wreath:
http://www.marthastewart.com/271588/pinecone-wreath

This is a video that shows how to attach the cones to the frame with wire instead of pushing them through. They are not very decorated though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1fe9LjZeAM

Then here is a link showing lots of different cone crafts.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pine+cone+crafts...

You could just buy a bare foam wreaths and wrap it with cloth remants or scraps or wide ribbon and have the kids glue the pine cones on it, this is a good one for all ages, but especially the young ones btw - Aleene's craft glue is great stuff, a little expensive, but a little goes a long way. I don't know how much money you can spend, but the foam wreaths could add up. If you have vines available you can make wreaths by soaking them and turning them into a circle. You could have them sprinkle them with glitter or roll in glitter - you could have them paint them and then put glitter. We did this with silver and gold paints - and then tie on a thick thread or use wire ordament hangers.

i J. posted on my xmas question post that my daughter made them last year into christmas ornaments, she painted them then put glitter all over them and attached ribbons so they would be ornaments, they looked gorgeous actually

Bird feeders:

Connect ribbon to the pine cones. Keep in mind that hot glue will become brittle in cold weather and break off.

Use suet blocks. Melt them slightly and roll the pinecones in the suet. Then roll in bird seed. Allow them to dry.

Little birds really love thistle seeds best, so try to avoid millet since bigger birds will have a hard time getting onto the pinecones.

I taught first grade for a number of years and had them make pinecone turkeys. I was going to type out what we did, but googled it and realized it wasn't so uncommon a craft. There are a ton of cute ways to do it. Bet they would be cute name card holders.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pinecone+turkey&i...

I made the CUTEST pine comb ornaments last year. Find some pine combs that stand up straight on their own. I bought some of those teeny tiny fuzzy balls at the craft store (the smaller the better), some white glitter glue, silver and gold pipe cleaners. Ok so they turn out looking like tiny Christmas trees. First I took the silver (or gold) pipe cleaner, and wrapped it all around the inside of the pine comb (the "trunk") to look like tinsel. Then I took the glitter glue and decorated all of the "branches" so they were all snowy/glittery. While you're working, at the tip of each "branch," with tweezers, stick on a tiny fuzzy ball to look like "ornaments." Most pine combs have perfect little cups at the tips of their "branches" so the balls sit in there really well. Just get creative with the star - there's no easy solution to that part...I just took a little plastic star I also found at the craft store and glued it into the slit at the top of the pine comb. It actually worked really well, just had to be careful until it dried fully.

Glue + glitter + ribbon... either hang them or put them in a basket together, tie cinnamon sticks to them so they smell pretty!

another bird feeder option - smear peanut butter all over the cone and then roll it in birdseed!!