Project Pinecone!

So I finished moving not to long ago and realized that I have a large box of left over pine cones from the wedding.  We had an autumn theme and they were used as a small scented thank you gift.  I also used the smaller pine cones as part of my centerpieces.  I just hate to throw out a good thing.  They are nice, big and have plenty of potential for something.  Now to just figure out what that something is.  Previously with some of the pine cones I made decorative ornaments and gave a set to my sister and sister-in-law for a Christmas gift.

Below are the steps I took to make my pine cone ornaments.


Step 1:  Select the best shaped pinecones for your project.  I picked up many of these at my in-laws house.

Step 2:  Clean the pine cones.  Submerge them in very warm water and 1 cup vinegar.  Let sit for a half hour or so.   Set out some old newspaper.  After soaking, arrange the pine cones on the old newspaper and allow to dry for 3 to 5 days or until dry.  During drying they will slowly re-open.

Step 3:  After all the pine cones have been dried, I painted on stain them in a dark brown color.  Then I allowed them to dry again.  It will take between 1 to 2 days to dry, depending on the amount of stain on each pine cone.

Step 4:  Now that the stain has dried, pine cones are ready for their next step.  On the bottom of the pine cone, in the stem hole, I twisted in a small eye hook.  I had chosen gold eye hooks for this project.

Step 5:  All the eye hooks have been placed, I then added some greenery.  I purchased some garland picks from my local craft store.

Step 6:  After the greenery, I added some holly berries.  I chose red and burgandy.  I also got these off of some holly picks from the craft store.  I just cut the individual berries off the pick.

Step 7:  Now that the berries and greenery has been added the final addition to the top of the ornament is some ribbon.  I added some plaid ribbon for accent.

Step 8:  I wanted to give some more color to the pine cone itself, so I added some "fake" snow to the bottom tips of the pine cones.  I wanted to give the appearance of the pine cone just being dipped into fresh snow.

Not actual ornament but very similar.

Here is your final product!
I packaged mine in a Christmas box that I made out of a hatbox.  I added a plush red pillowy inside for the pine cones to sit on.

What other crafty ideas do you have for these pine cones?