DIY Pine Cone Garland

Christmas is a lot about tradition to me, even when its come to decor. But this year I actually added something new (and changed up a few things, more on that to come later)!

This was the easiest, cheapest (read free) project. At the same time, its holds special meaning to me...Maura loves being outside and she loves exploring nature. She took a liking to all the pine cones in our yard and would always bring them to me. So we started a collection, and then I thought it would be cool to actually do something with them. Like make a garland:)


First I baked the pine cones in the oven for about 20 minutes at 250 degrees to kill any bugs or anything that might still be hanging around (read about this here after doing some research). I would definitely suggest using an old sheet pan, I got a lot of melted sap residue.


Then I cut a really long strand of jute twine that we had lying around and literally just went along tying the pine cone stems onto it. I made note to alter the sizes of the cones and the spacing in between, so that it would look random and natural.


After I had a pretty long garland done, I ran around the house holding it up to everything to see where it would look best:) In the end I decided to make two and hang them on the windows in our dining room. (Remember I stole these linen drapery panels from the living room where I didn't like them all that much and moved them here to the dining room? And then I was going to get some bamboo matchstick blinds to replace the ugly roller shades? Yeah, that hasn't happened...yet.)

{sorry about the terrible pics}

I really like them. And they're versatile, I can break them out next fall.

You guys been doing anything with pine cones lately? Or have a toddler that likes collecting things?!

**Linking this up to the DIY Project Parade over at the DIY Show Off Bio. Thanks, Roeshel!!