Well, it's November 1st and I have been looking forward to today as it is the day I start to wire up pine cones for my fireplace garland. I like a huge, chunky garland with several swags, which takes hundreds of pine cones to get the look, so this blog-make is in two parts.
A full-sized fireplace garland would be about £125 - £200 to have made, depending on the size of your fireplace and mantle, but you could make your own for less than £10 if you allow for the jute rope, the florist wires and the petrol to drive to your nearest pine trees. Try to use either spruce or fir cones as they have the overlapping scales.
There is no time like the present and I suggest that you aim to collect about 350-375 depending on how chunky and how long you want your garland to be.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
If you wanted to make one in time for the upcoming Christmas holiday season, please start collecting your pine cones or buy them in bulk from a florists' supplier such as Daisy Gifts.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
To start, take florists' wire and bend it in half.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
Wrap the wire loop around the bottom section of scales. Work the wire in about 2 layers up from the base.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
Bring the wire together and make two turns to secure.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
Now, by turning the pine cone in one hand and holding the wire in the other, gently twist to form a tight spiral. Stop after a centimetre.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
Put a finger in the wire and then twist again to create a loop.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
This is the hanging loop for the pine cones (on the twine) so do another few twists and then trim the excess wire.
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| Lella Loves... Pine Cones |
You will need to wire up every single pine cone and then thread them on to your chosen swag base. I am using a heavy duty coir rope but you could use plaited garden twine or ribbon. The choice is yours.
I will aim to have wired all the pine cones, and I'll take photos as I thread them on, ready for next weekend.
Please pop back for Part 2 - the finished look and the actual displaying of my pine cone garland.
Lella xx
Lella xx
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