Valentine Pine Cone Wreath

Last weekend after the howling gales, Ruby and Daddy went off for a run about in the park.  They returned with treasure!  A huge bag of the biggest pine cones I have ever seen.

I measured them (yes, I am that sad) and some of them were 13 inches long.  These called for some crafty treatment and I found myself dreaming of what to do with said pine cones (I worry for my sanity at times).

Most of the crafty ideas I found were too Christmassy, so I decided to hammer home the fact that Valentine's Day is approaching, by making a heart-shaped wreath for the door. I promise this is my last heart themed craft this year!

We made a very simple wreath because I wanted to involve Ruby as much as possible, but I'm sure you could make it smarter, and indeed scale everything down for regular cones that aren't freakishly large.

Here's how we did it.

You will need:

• Medium - Heavy weight wire and cutters (I did try to use a coat hanger, but either they've got stronger or I've got weaker, because I couldn't bend it!)

• Pine cones

• Paint in a receptacle deep enough to submerge your cones

• String

• Ribbon to hang (optional)

Bend your wire into a rough heart shape.

Roughly arrange your cones on the wire to make sure you have the right amount and shapes.

I thought long and hard about the best way to colour our cones.  Painting them with a brush would be much too fiddly.  Personally I'd have gone for my old mate the spray can, but that's not terribly practical or safe for a toddler.

Instead, I thought the easiest way would be to dip them in paint.  First tie some string around the end of each cone.  This allows you to hold onto the string and not get too messy, and gives you a way to hang them up to dry.

We used some leftover emulsion paint and watered it down.  Stir it well.  The strength of colour will obviously depend on the amount of water you add.  If you're using little cones, then a smaller pot of poster paint will work fine.

Dip in your cones and ensure they are fully covered. (Ruby completely ignored the handles however, and thought it much more fun to plunge her hands in).

Hang up to dry - this is best done outdoors, unless of course it starts to rain. In which case, dash out like a lunatic, grab dripping cones and fashion an indoor hanging rail out of a garden cane like I had to!

Once fully dry, arrange back on your heart shaped base, and wire into position.  This is easier said than done, and you are better to use thinner, florists wire for this, and obviously the adult does this part because the wire can be sharp.  You could of course add some sparkle with glitter to the finished result.

Hang and enjoy!

Ours turned out more on the shabby side of chic, but Ruby is very proud of it and that's what counts! Plus, it brightens up the very shabby door to the outside loo!

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