DIY Holiday Pinecone Garland Tutorial
DIY Holiday Pinecone Garland Tutorial…and it took everything I had to include the word “holiday” in that title! I know it’s way too early for that, but I’m trying very hard to think ahead…so I’m sharing a project that you can do now, and it will last through Christmas.
I wanted to make this garland last year…but it just didn’t happen. I was determined to give it a try for this holiday season and I must admit that it has turned out way better than I expected. I may have made one tiny mistake that I’ll tell you about later.
Prepare your pinecones
First about the pinecones…if you actually collect your pinecones from the ground, you will have to make sure that there are no critters living in them. There are two ways to go about this. The first option is to bake them in the oven. Spread the pinecones out on large cookie sheets covered with foil and bake at 225 degrees for about 30 minutes. That will definitely kill any bugs in the pinecones. The second option is to put your pinecones in plastic bags…either large ziploc bags or small garbage bags with a twist tie. Throw the bags in your freezer for a day or two and all the bugs will die. Either of these methods works well.
It’s easy to buy pinecones if you don’t have access to any or just don’t want to go collecting. Craft and discount stores carry them every holiday season. Last year I even saw them at my grocery store. I’ll also leave a link or two at the end to online sources. Now that your pinecones are critter-free, it’s time to make your garland.
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DIY holiday pinecone garland materials needed:
- Natural Oasis Bind Wire or regular florist wire
- Scissors
- Heavy twine
- Pinecones – it’s hard to say how many due to length of garland and size of pinecones. I can guarantee that you will need more than you think!
The natural oasis bind wire is amazing stuff. I have never used it before, but it’s perfect for this project. It’s wire covered with some sort of paper product so it looks like twine. The covering doesn’t tear and you can attach it just like a twisty tie.
To begin, cut lengths of the oasis wire long enough to wrap around the large end of the pinecones, with generous tails.
I used the assembly line method to make this garland. So once I cut all my wire pieces, I wrapped them around the pinecones and gave the wire a good twist.
Make the pinecone garland
When you have most of your pinecones wrapped with the oasis wire, it’s time to figure out the garland length. Mine is hung around my front door, so I needed a piece of heavy twine about 12 feet long. I added a couple of feet just in case. If you want to hang one on a mantel, just measure the mantel length and add a few feet. This garland would look lovely on a staircase or around a window too.
Once you have your heavy twine cut to length, attach it to whatever base you are using. I pounded in a few nails to the casing around my front door and just tied the twine around the nails. I think Command Hooks would work well too. Now all that’s left to do is attach the pinecones to the heavy twine. To do that just twist the oasis wire around the twine. Trim the tails if needed. About the ends…you will need to knot a pinecone to the end of your twine so the pinecones don’t slip off. Just tie a loose slip knot, stick the oasis wire through the knot, tighten the knot, and then twist your oasis wire.
I tried to use bigger pine cones at the ends of my garland to add a little weight. I mentioned a possible mistake earlier in the post, so here’s the scoop on that. I didn’t have any really heavy twine so I used regular twine from the craft store. I think it will be strong enough to hold the pinecones, but there’s always a chance it will break. Time will tell on that! I highly recommend using a sturdy, thick twine.
UPDATE: After I had the pinecones attached to the twine coming down both sides of the door, I decided to make the top section a separate piece of twine. I cut another generous length of twine and attached it, along the top of the door, to the same nails holding up the side garlands. I stood on a stool and then attached all the pinecones to the twine on top of the door. See a pic of the finished garland below. You could also make this in three sections…which is probably the easiest method. One down the left side, one across the top and one down the right side. Again, if you are making the garland for a mantel or along the top of a window, one piece of twine would be perfect. Clearly there is no right or wrong way to do this!
This project was fun and it actually didn’t take as long as I expected, even though my garland was really long. It was fun to see the pinecone garland take shape and I love the way it looks around our door. I’ll carefully store it in a plastic bin so it should last for several years.
Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Click to see more of this fall front porch!
