my little pine forest

I saw this idea in a magazine while standing in line at the grocery store a few weeks ago.  I wish I could remember which magazine it was, so I could give them credit.  I like how theirs turned out better than mine, but I changed up a few things.  In the end, I like them enough to share them with you.

I didn’t have many pine cones on hand, so I purchased a bag of pumpkin spice scented pine cones leftover from Thanksgiving from JoAnn Fabrics at a whopping 75% off.  They also have cinnamon scented pine cones on sale right now for the Christmas season if you want to try this.

Mix 1 cup of white household paint with 4 cups of water in a container.

Then soak your pine cones for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After soaking, hang them up until nearly dry.  This is the tricky and messy part.  I used a clothes hanger and twine, and hung them from a knob of a kitchen cabinet.  Be absolutely sure to put something underneath them to catch the drips.

I sped up the drying process by using a hair dryer.  Bake them on a foil-lined cookie sheet in the oven at 180 degrees for 1-3 hours.

After baking, drill holes in the bottom on the cones and insert a wood skewer.  For the bottoms, I used cut pieces of a white birch branch.  But you could use square wood blocks or anything you like.  Drill a hole in the bottoms and connect the two.  Because my drill holes were a perfect fit, I didn’t use any glue to hold them together.

Finally . . . arrange them in your home.

I made mine to use in my kitchen.  I started by lining them up on the window sill.

Then I moved a few down to the cupboard beneath the window.

These sweet little trees are growing on me.

Then I decided to move one over to the open cabinet where I keep my dishes.

And lastly, I put a couple in the bathroom.  One on the back of the toilet.

And another on a vintage wire basket turned into a shelving unit, over the toilet.

But the best part about these sweet little trees is that since I used scented pine cones, the whole house now has a subtle, but wonderful smell of holiday spices.

Because these sweet little trees are more wintry than Christmasy, they will be hanging out with me until spring makes its return.