Caring For Pinecones & Making Them Shine

Pinecones are all the rage in holiday decorating.
Like these from Pottery Barn…

You could spend $14.50 on pinecones at Pottery Barn, or you could pick some up from your yard for free. I chose option B.

I collected a full bag of pinecones at the park closest to my office one day while on a lunch break walk. But, there’s more to pinecones than just collecting them and taking them home. YOU MUST BAKE THEM BEFORE CRAFTING OR STORING!

I’ve read horror stories of maggots hatching from collected pinecones that weren’t treated. My skin is crawling just thinking about it. Baking the pinecones not only kills any critters that might be hiding inside, but it also hardens the sap so that they aren’t sticky anymore!

As soon as I got the pinecones inside (DON’T WAIT ON THIS!), I baked those cones at 200 degrees for 45 minutes on foil lined baking sheets. I put them in the oven before heating it up and waited for the oven to cool to remove them. Be sure to keep an eye on them as they bake so you don’t burn them!

Then I laid them inside of 3 separate cardboard boxes and spray painted them in several coats of Oil Rubbed Bronze, Silver Glitter, and Silver Metallic Spray Paints.

Then I removed the stem from the pine cone. It should break right off.

Tie some twine in a knot and clip it as close to the knot as possible

Then put a dab of hot glue where the stem used to be and secure the base of the knot on the glue.

And voila!

You can also just use the pine cones to accent existing decorations! Check out our holiday house tour for more pine cones everwhere!