This was another one of my favorite post to write. I am always out in nature seeing things that would make cute little items to decorate my home with. Christmas is the perfect time for these types of crafts. Hope you all enjoy this old post and you all get a chance to go out exploring in nature. Happy creating and happy holidays.
Time for another day of our summer Christmas holiday and this one involves exploring the woods.
It is so nice walking out around pine trees in the summertime, especially after a summer rainstorm. It smells wonderful.
There are all kinds of leaves, twigs and pine cones out in the forest that are great for art projects. Pine cones are great for wreaths of all sizes. When collecting cones don’t forget to look for a variety of sizes and shapes. You will need a lot of pine cones to choose from for your wreaths.
You’ll also need a glue gun and lots of glue.
You can use a straw wreath, twig or Styrofoam to glue your pine cones to, then add a big bow and decorations once completed.
There are several ornaments you can make as well, like these little elves with their mohair or pine cone hats.
They’re pretty easy to make, so all ages can get involved. Switch things up a bit and add wings and a halo for beautiful little angels.
First you will need to cut or pull away the first layer of the pinecone. Then glue a little wooden bead on top, add eyes and mouth, then decorate with a little hat and scarf.
Break your pine cones up into little pieces and use those pieces for little roofs for cottages.You will need some clay, paints and tacky glue. Make a whole village to display on your mantle in garland with tiny lights. Or you can display them in pots with your plants throughout the year.
Pull off pieces starting from the bottoms of your pine cones to make beautiful roses.
You can leave them the natural color of the pine cone or spray paint them red like I did with these.
Twigs aren’t just for campfires. Collect a variety of colors and sizes to create a rustic mini Christmas tree.
Get out your baskets of buttons, beads and tiny items to decorate your mini trees with.
Glue or tie twigs onto a larger twig, from small to large, then display in a little vase or pot for your tables.
Have fun out there harvesting and exploring the woods, cleaning up our planets beautiful yards will make you feel good and the fresh air doesn’t hurt.
Plus harvesting pine cones helps to clear the forest floor of dried-up cones that could fuel a wildfire. Before planning to collect anything in national forests, please check with your local district office and forest rangers to see if you need a permit first.
I love this blog! Great ideas and beautiful craft directions!
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Thank you so much!
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everything looks adorable!
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Awww…thanks a bunch, glad you liked it. The roses are not my idea, I saw that in a magazine once. Most Diys from the forest are Scandinavian inspired from a long time ago. Nothing new under the sun as they say.
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well new ideas or not, you did a wonderful job!
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Awww…thank you. I like to put my own personal style to things. These were so fun to make too. My favorites were the little elf ornaments. The little clay houses were my idea though. Thought they be cute in my garden pots.
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you are quite creative and talented. 🙂
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Thank you.
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That’s darling!💕
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Thank you.
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Love all of the items you made! 🤗
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Thank you. You live close to some woods so you and your daughter will have a ton of fun doing some of these little projects.
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So darn cute!!!
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Thank you.
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A few years ago I collected enough nice sized branches for xmas decor outside. Birch is nice but out of my price range…the various branches look just as cute I think
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I could never afford birch here in the city but up north there is a forest of them and the branches are everywhere on the ground.
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Isnt it crazy how what was once seen as debris become a popular item with a high price tag
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I know. In the country there are tons of items that people in the city pay a lot of money for, like pine cones. We use them as fire starters and here in the city you have to buy them by the bag or as decorative picks which can run up to $10 a pick…crazy.
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Wonderful! Thank you for this very nice ideas!
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You’re welcome. Thank you for stopping by my site, hope you get a chance to make some of these projects.
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Wow, didn’t know they were hard to find in Australia. There are usually bags for sale at most hobby stores in our city. I am cheap so I tend to just collect them from up north.My grandma made most if these crafts too, she was always teaching her grandkids things. I loved visiting her as a child just on that alone.
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I know, that’s so funny when I see bags of them for sale. I usually wait for after Christmas sales to shop for next years decorations or I pick things up second hand. Anytime I am up north I load up on nature art supplies. I love exploring the woods anyway so why not I always say. So sad when they cut down old trees here in our city. We lost a whole street of giant decades old pine trees when the city cut them down to make room for the light rail. It looks horrible now. I love the shade the trees put out. We have mature trees around our pool and it is so fun swimming under them. It is hard to keep up with cleaning the pool but I don’t care. I would rather get rid of the pool before any tree of ours.
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I always forget and get to the sales too late. I always want to buy Christmas lights for next year but the lights are always gone.
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I bet, it is crazy how expensive things are becoming. Most things we can make ourselves if we just put a little effort into it. I am not sure how well those things would turn out but who ever gives it a try is always good to me.
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You always amaze me, so overflowing with creativity. The elves are adorable but those roses, oh my goodness. I don’t know how you think up all these wonderful ideas. AND they always turn out so well.
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Thank you. I have so much fun being creative, I would feel bad if I didn’t share it with others. Even before I started blogging I was volunteering and teaching others my crafts. I think everyone should share the gifts God has given us. I would love to take credit for the roses but that one I saw years ago in a magazine. Roses are some of my favorite flowers and these pine cone roses never die so they are extra special. Add some rose essential oil to them and paint a bunch in several colors to make a wreath with, I bet that would be so pretty hanging on a wall in a bedroom.
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You said it perfectly, your creativity is a gift. Sharing it with others is another gift 🙂 I feel it doesn’t matter where the idea came from because if you think about it without you posting it on your blog, we wouldn’t have seen it 🙂
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