By George Georgeless
First you’ll need to gather some supplies. Go for a walk to enjoy the crisp, cooling air and to find as many fully opened pinecones as possible. Head to the local arts and crafts store and pick up green paint, glue, and whatever decorations you want. Tinsel, glitter, beads, foil, and little fabric flowers all work wonderfully. The only other supplies you’ll need are a bottle cap and something with which to hang your finished product: wire, a pipe cleaner, or even a paperclip will suffice.
Take your pinecones and, using a brush or spray paint, cover them completely with a generous layer of green. If you’re going to apply glitter or other very light decorations, use the wet paint as an adhesive. Small embellishments can be stuck on the pinecone and will hold in the wet paint. When you’re content, set it aside and let it dry thoroughly. After painting the pinecone, take a bottle cap and paint it green as well. Set this aside to dry too.
Once your now green pinecone is dry, it’s time to start the decorations. Use the glue to adhere beads, tinsel, and small silk flowers. Tweezers can help get the tiny adornments into place. Just dip the miniature ornaments in a little bit of glue and press them firmly where you want them on the pinecone. Be sure not to use too much glue. You don’t want it to run down your little painted Christmas tree.
When your decorations are completed to your satisfaction, glue the bottle cap to the bottom of the pinecone. You can glue a small paper snowflake or a doily to the bottle cap to act as a tree skirt.
The last step is to take a paperclip or any solid, narrow object, and drill a little hole into the top of the pinecone by twisting and applying just a little bit of pressure. Be very careful. If you press too hard you could break your masterpiece. When you’ve dug a hole into the top, take whatever you’re going to use to hang your ornament. Add a little bit of glue to the end of your wire or pipe cleaner and push this into the hole. Let it dry, bend it into a hook, and hang your pinecone Christmas tree ornament from your Christmas tree.