Christmas tree made of pine cones
. A good idea to celebrate the New Year with a new colorful craft. Here you will learn how to make a Christmas tree from cones with your own hands; with the onset of winter this is the most relevant topic. There are many ways, 30 of them are presented in this article.
If you are interested in the classic version, look at examples of how to make Christmas trees from cones on cones. If you want a small souvenir, make a small Christmas tree from one cone , an excellent gift and a good activity for children. For New Year's decor mini Christmas trees made from scales from pine cones are suitable. They look simply incomparable on a holiday table or mantelpiece. All this is easy to do with your own hands, master classes with step-by-step photos are at your disposal.
What will you need for the craft?
- Pine cones;
- Thick cardboard;
- Glue gun;
- Regular glue;
- Scissors;
- Green gouache, brush;
- Christmas tree decorations.
While it was not difficult to decide on the base of the tree, I immediately decided that it would be a cardboard cone, but the color of the tree and its decor did not work out so easily. I wanted everything at once: a Christmas tree with pine cones in their unchanged state with gold accents, a Christmas tree powdered with white gouache and decorated with pearlescent white beads. But I still settled on the classic - a green Christmas tree with colorful toys and tinsel. Although, there are still cones, perhaps I will turn some of the above into reality, with a different base, for example, on a conical papier-mâché or bottle.
Preparation rules
Very often, cones falling from spruce and pine trees turn out to be closed and only open after a while, thereby changing the original appearance in which this cone was delivered to your home. This can somewhat overshadow the craft, so before you start making a Christmas tree from spruce or pine cones, you can familiarize yourself with some of the intricacies of preparing cones for the craft.
- If you want to leave the cones closed, after collecting them you need to put them in a container with wood glue for literally 20-30 seconds, this will not allow them to open.
- If you have collected closed buds and want them to open as soon as possible, there are several ways to achieve this:
- you can let them cook for half an hour and then dry them on the radiator;
- send the cones to the oven, preheated to 250 degrees, for 2-2.5 hours.
- Plus, heat treatment will kill microbes and small insects living in the buds and make them safe.
There is also a way to adjust the shape of the cone: you just need to soak it in water for 5-10 minutes, tie it with thread and dry it on a radiator. To bleach the cones, they need to be soaked for 5-6 hours in water with diluted bleach (1:1), then rinsed thoroughly and dried.
Related article: How to sew an angel with your own hands
Craft for beginners, mini Christmas tree video
I also offer lightweight versions of this green beauty for beginners and small children.
The video details the process of making a Christmas tree from just one piece.
A similar process is shown in this step-by-step photo.
And also some more interesting ideas for you.
I also like this option. It is very original in that the cone “stands” on a cut tree.
Such mini crafts can be an excellent gift for the New Year if they are made with soul.
And also a very laconic version of the craft. Simple, but you can feel the style and taste.
Let's get started
For work we will need:
- Cones. Their number depends on how large a decorative Christmas tree you want. The more cones, the larger and more magnificent the Christmas tree made from pine cones. Cones for crafts need to be chosen that are good, without defects;
- Glue gun;
- Spray paint cans. The color depends only on your imagination;
- Garland;
- There are two ways to make such a Christmas tree: by gluing the cones onto a pre-prepared cardboard cone or onto a fiberboard base. In our master class, production will be carried out using the second method, with a base made of fiberboard (instead of fiberboard, you can take a sheet of chipboard or any other dense material that can be easily cut).
Now that the cones have been processed, the first thing you need to do is sort them into large and small. This task can easily be entrusted to a child.
Next, we take our sheet of fiberboard (chipboard or other dense material), this will be the basis of our Christmas tree.
The leaf size will vary depending on how large you want your tree to be.
We have a sheet measuring 30x30 cm. We draw an even circle on it with a compass and cut it out with a jigsaw. Only dad can handle this task, and in this way you can involve the whole family in the process of creating a fluffy beauty with your own hands!
In the cut out circle you can make another smaller circle, as shown in the photo. This is necessary in order to then place a garland inside the future Christmas tree, thereby creating beautiful tints and glow.
You can also make legs for the tree to make it more stable. You can use special iron legs, or you can buy plastic furniture legs in the store. The main thing is that the base stands firmly on the surface.
Now let's proceed directly to gluing the cones. To do this, take the largest cones and use a glue gun to glue them along the edge to our base. Glue is applied directly to the cone itself, both to its base and to the sides, in order to fasten adjacent cones together. When the first circle is glued, you need to wait for the glue to completely dry and harden, otherwise the entire structure may fall apart.
Related article: Crafts box made from a salad bowl
The second row is a little more difficult to make: the cones are attached to each other, in the spaces between the cones of the first row. There is no need to skimp on glue if you want to get a stable structure. Again, we wait for it to dry completely when we finish the second row. And in the same way we glue the remaining rows, with each row moving the cones a little towards the middle, forming a cone.
For the top of the Christmas tree, it is best to choose an oblong cone with a pointed tip to make it look more realistic.
Next we have an important step to take - painting. This is not necessary if you want to preserve the natural colors of the material. We will cover the Christmas tree with silver spray paint. Let us repeat that you can choose absolutely any color.
It is best to paint with aerosol paints outside, since such paints have a specific smell that is not so easy to air out, or we open all the windows in the apartment, and cover the walls and floor in the place where painting will be done with newspapers so as not to stain anything around. After painting, you need to wait for the paint to dry completely.
Now let's go back to the hole in the base. We will place a garland in it so that the Christmas tree sparkles from the inside. The decision whether to decorate the tree itself or not is up to you, we threw a little tinsel on top.
And now our beauty is ready! Its production took about 1.5 hours, not including the preparatory stage, and also turned out to be minimally expensive. We wish you pleasant creativity!
How to make a Christmas tree from pine cones and corks with your own hands
For this option you will need the following materials and tools:
- pine fruits;
- dye;
- scissors;
- spray;
- corks (taken from wine bottles);
- glue gun;
- decorative elements (for example, foil-based stars).
This time the manufacturing instructions will be as follows:
- Dilute the paint in water and spray along the edges of the scales. It can also be applied to the surface using a sponge.
- After drying, dry with a hairdryer.
- Make a cut on the top of the cork so that you can secure the fruit there.
- Apply glue and stick.
- Decorate with a star on the top of the head.
Christmas trees and decorations
Decorating the Christmas tree for the New Year is a good old tradition. On the eve of the winter holiday, you and your children can make and decorate Christmas trees of various shapes and sizes with your own hands.
Little Christmas tree
To make a small Christmas tree you will need the following materials:
- a large spruce or pine cone;
- paints or nail polishes, green and silver shades;
- small beads or seed beads, about 30 pieces;
- transparent glue;
- cotton wool and cardboard.
Miniature Christmas trees can also be decorated with small bows made from ribbons or plasticine, from which you can mold a star onto the top. Such a Christmas tree can be planted in a miniature pot, or you can make a box from colored cardboard and paint it with paints or felt-tip pens.
Table Christmas tree
In order to make a tabletop Christmas tree you will need the following materials:
- cones of different sizes and shapes;
- Super glue;
- cardboard or foam for the base;
- multi-colored paints, varnishes and decorations.
When the base for the Christmas tree is ready, you can start gluing the parts onto it in circles, from bottom to top. At the bottom of the craft, you can place larger parts; towards the top, their size can be gradually reduced. After the product has completely dried, it is decorated with cotton wool, coated with silver varnish, and beads or garlands are hung. You can glue multi-colored wool balls to the paws.
An interesting version of the Christmas tree will turn out if, instead of a whole row of cones, you glue walnuts in shells, previously coated with golden paint, to the base.
Christmas wreath
To make a beautiful winter wreath, you need to choose a base to which the parts will be attached. You can use foam or thick cardboard as a frame.
- round pine and elongated spruce cones;
- floral wire;
- white or silver paint or varnish;
- Super glue;
- red plasticine or beads of the same shade.
Before attaching the parts to the base, they need to be painted. To create a “snowy” effect, neat strokes of white or silver paint are made on the tips of the scales. The parts are wrapped with thin wire (long ones can be wrapped in two places), and then the ends of the wire are stuck into the base. Long blanks are placed in a circle, and round ones can be attached upright in the form of roses.
Bright red berries stick singly or in clusters between the legs. If beads are used, they can be pre-strung on a thread and wrapped around the wreath with a bright ribbon.
Sparkling garland
An original garland made from natural materials will decorate the room for the New Year holiday; the product can be easily made to any required size.
For decoration you will need:
- opened clean buds;
- a strong long ribbon and short thin ribbons or laces to match it;
- wood varnish;
- glitter or finely chopped tinsel or foil (you can chop colorful rain);
- hooks - self-tapping screws;
- tools: knife, pliers.
Using a sharp knife, cut off the “tails” of the fruit and screw in the screws; if you can’t do it by hand, you should use pliers. Dip each piece completely into varnish, wait until the excess drips off, and then sprinkle with glitter or tinsel. Allow the pieces to dry thoroughly by hanging them on the hooks. Make holes in the strong tape in the places where the decorations will hang. You can tie a small bow made of beautiful braid or cord to the hook.
