Pine Cone Flowers

It is one month today until Christmas Day so Floral Friday has been given a twist with these lovely pine cone flowers. I love pine cones and if you do too, these are rather fun to make.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

As a seasonal display, pine cones are one of my main 7. The others in this tried and tested list are fruit, nuts, greenery, robins, candles and Christmas decorations. Pine cones and pot pourri are the 7th.

To make these, you will need:

Pine cones
Twigs - let them dry out
Hand tools
Glue

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Start by taking your dried twigs and slice the top off at an angle.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

 The aim is for you to create a wedged end.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Where the pine cone left the tree, there is a little belly button. You need to create a hole into which the twigs will be glued. Either gouge out with a gimlet (BE EXTRA CAREFUL) but it would be easier to use a small hobby drill such as a Dremel.

Here is a link to their hobby range.

http://www.dremel-direct.com/acatalog/Dremel_Hobby_Range.html

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Place a blob of glue on the end of your stem.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Insert the twig in to the pine cone to create the flower stem.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Leave them to dry overnight.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Make as many as you would like for your arrangement. If you enjoy the creative, simply keep on making as a bouquet of pine cone flowers would be a lovely handmade present.

Lella Loves... Charity Shops

Select your container. I chose this fabulous handmade (not by me!) jug which I bought from a charity shop last month. 

*Tip: It only takes two minutes to browse in a charity shop but I encourage it at all times as you never know what you might find.

Lella Loves... Glass Nuggets

As the pine cone flowers are top-heavy, use some ballast such as these charming glass nuggets.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

They are super-cheap at £2 for a huge tub. I chose brown as my jug is brown and this is a naturals display.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Arranging the pine cone flowers is fun. Do make sure when you make them, your stems are either very long so you are able to trim or make them with varying heights.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Start the arrangement with the triangle. This helps guide you to an even placement.

Lella Loves... Pine Cone Flowers

Here is my finished display. You can now see the benefit of being able to trim the stems. Differing heights is a must or else the arrangement will look odd.

If you have children who want to make Christmas decorations, let them add a touch of sparkle to a bowl of plain pine cones using glitter and glue. For a rainy-day project,  set aside a big bag of pine cones. Encourage the children to express their creativity and let them paint the cone tips with non-toxic PVA glue and dip in dry glitter.

I do hope you enjoyed today's blog-make and please leave me a comment. It is always nice to know what you think.

Have a lovely day.

Lella  xx

http://lellalovescreativity.blogspot.com