Ever since I was a child I have loved making homemade ornaments for our Christmas tree! These are some cute Pine Cone Men Ornaments that my kids and I made for this year’s tree!
I remember making these ornaments with my mom, so I wanted to recreate that experience with my kids. Over the weekend we set off to collect pine cones and acorn caps from our backyard, and found quite a few pine cones and not as many acorn caps. I think our search would have been a little more fruitful if we had done it a month earlier, but planning ahead is not my strong point. You could of course buy some of each at a craft store if you don’t have an easy source available.
Some of the pine cones looked a little moldy, although my oldest daughter (a biologist) assured me it was actually lichen, not mold. Either way we baked the pine cones and acorn caps at 200 F for about an hour, to dry them out and kill any mold/lichen or anything else that happened to be growing on it. Then we made the ornaments, which are very simple. We made some bigger and some smaller, based on the size of pine cones we had collected.
Pine Cone Men Directions
Supplies
- Pine cones, large and small
- Acorn caps, large and small
- Styrofoam balls (1 1/2″ and 7/8″)
- Sequins
- Pins
- small beads
- red permanent marker
- hot glue gun
- thread
Ponderosa Pine Cones 8/Pkg-Natural
Outus 48 Pieces White Foam Craft Balls Decorating Ball for DIY, Crafting and Decoration, 4 SizesTin Roof Treasure Natural Organic Acorn Caps Pack of 100
Directions
Thread beads and sequins onto a pin to make eyes the eyes and nose of the ornament. Push them into the styrofoam ball.
Use the hot glue gun to secure the acorn cap to the styrofoam head. Then hot glue the head to a pine cone.
Draw on a mouth with a red permanent marker.
Cut a small piece of thread and make a loop and tie it around the stem of the acorn cap. Secure it with a little bit of hot glue.
They are adorable! Are you making any ornaments for the holidays this year?
This sure takes me back to my childhood! Especially the sequins and beads!
I’ve never made anything like this. I think my kids would love this craft. We really have pine trees here in Florida so could I really find these at the craft store? I’ve never seen a bag of acorn caps before.
You can order acorn caps online if you can’t find them in a craft store. They are really cheap, I think you can a bag on etsy for about $5.
my daughter loves to collect pine cones while we’re on walks. This would be a great craft for her!
These are simply adorable…I remember making similar ornaments when I was younger too. Great idea to \”bake\” them before using them…we never did that when I was younger. I am sure my son would love making some of these this year. We would love for you to join us at Party in Your PJ to share this cute project with our party guests
The pine cone ornaments are adorable!
Theses are absolutely adorable and even though I’m not all that crafty I think I might be able to put one or two together. Maybe. 😉