Wondering if you can make bows out of pinecones; nature's poop? Wonder no more because yes you can make bows out of pinecones. Here are a few tips.
3 months ago I sat straight up in bed and said "Pinecone bows" out loud. It wasn't the weirdest thing I'd ever done in bed, but it was up there. So I got out of bed, walked over to the desk and wrote down "Pinecone Bows" on an old Jumbo Video receipt. Yeah. That old.
I kept that little Jumbo Video receipt to remind me that when the time came (the time being Christmas) I should make some bows out of some hot glue, 4x6 index cards, twine and acorns. No, no. Pinecones.
The pinecone bows are in keeping with the whole chicken/farmy Christmas theme I've got going. The rustic sort of, I live in the woods and have squirrels for pets kind of feeling.
My original plan was just to hot glue pine cones onto index cards until they were in the shape of a bow.
But when I actually did that, I wasn't in love with it. It basically looked like pinecone poop. So I added a bit of reindeer moss here and there. Now it looked like pinecone poop with reindeer moss, which obviously is a huge improvement but still not acceptable. So ... I continued screwing around with the pinecones and the twine.
I just kept gluing and twining and cutting until I came up with a design that worked.
What ended up working the best was a design that combined rustic and a bit of modern. All you do is hot glue a pinecone or two onto an index card then glue twine around them to act like a frame. Cut away the leftover index card and you're done.
Like with hotdogs, if one is good, two is better.
I improved the original pinecone bow by just making it more natural looking. A few pinecones laying in a bed of moss. I picked this reindeer moss from a very remote and difficult to get to spot at the cottage, picked the bugs and twigs out, transported it home and then preserved it myself using this method I have a tutorial on. I have no intention of giving this bow away. I'm either going to sit it on the windowsill or wear it as a hat on Christmas Eve.
Take a look at how these bows turn out looking on presents wrapped in craft paper and recycled feed bags!
It just occurred to me ... all the stuff used to make these bows are from the Dollar Store. Pinecones, hot glue sticks, twine and index cards. The reindeer moss isn't. We've been over that.
I love this idea. This got me imagining a pinecone bra for the Burning Man crowd. (of which I am not a member)
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Finally something to do with all the buckets and bowls of pinecones I have everywhere! I'm a happy girl!
Patty - Oooo there'll be a lot more pinecone ideas coming up next week. :) ~ karen
I kind of love the name of this post.
You have such a great way with words. Your pinecone bows are beautiful and rustic all in one.
Thanks Cathy! I'm wrapping right now! ~ karen
the funniest thing my fella ever sat up and said in the middle of the night was "je m'appelle la fenetre"...which, roughly translated is "they call me the window"...and no, he is not french!
LOL! Yup. That's "my name is the window". That's hilarious. ~ karen
Yay!! You are brilliant. Thank you for the fabulous ideas.
Your dollar stores are obviously WAY better than our here, but I think that has already been decided. Loved you post!
Cant think of anything witty to say, it been a shitty one, luv the poop cones tho.
Living at the bottom of the world, there are no reindeer and hence no reindeer moss. So my question is, 'what is reindeer moss and do you need a reindeer to make it?'
I love crafting with twine. Have you ever twined twine around votive glasses? I just grab a glue gun and start twirling and gluing from the bottom of the glass up, covering as far up the glass as you want. Sometimes I stop about 3/4 of the way up, then do something else with the rest of the glass. Tiny sea shells, moss, any rustic item your want. I have a tree in my yard with miniature pine cones on it. What would you call those? Tiny turds I suppose?
Anyway, love this idea and will def. be using it this Christmas and winter season.