Pinecone Wreath

There's no end to how you can use pinecones to enhance your holiday: in decorations, as bird feeders, as fire starters, and more. Learn how to use pinecones from three kinds of trees -- red pine (Pinus resinosa), slash pine (Pinus elliottii), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) -- to make two wreaths. Consider using only natural-hued brown pinecones, or add some gold-dipped cones for sparkle.

What You'll Need

Materials

  • Double-wire wreath form
  • 22-gauge floral wire
  • Wire cutters
  • Leather gloves
  • Approximately 100 pinecones
  • Scissors
  • Satin ribbon

Instructions

  1. Stretch a 14-inch or a 24-inch double-wire wreath form into an oval.

  2. Reinforce wreath form by weaving it with 22-gauge wire in a zigzag pattern. At each bracket, wrap wire around the form an extra time, or tie a small knot.

  3. Wearing gloves to protect your fingers from pinecone prickles, wrap an 18-inch piece of wire around the bottom portion of each pinecone, twisting tightly a few times and leaving an excess of two 6-inch lengths of wire extending from the cone.

  4. Wire the cones onto the wreath form by pulling the wire ends around from the front to the back of the form, fastening by twisting the two wire ends together. Wiring two or three cones together helps speed up the process.

  5. Nestle the cones as close to each other as possible, interchanging brown and gold and different sizes and varieties throughout the entire wreath.

  6. Wire a satin bow onto the wreath.

Originally appeared: MARTHA STEWART LIVING, VOLUME 133 DECEMBER 2004
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