Pine Cone Decorations

What You Need:

• Pine cones – various shapes and sizes will work
• Green paint
• Paintbrushes
• Bowls for paint
• Craft glue
• Silver and gold glitter
• Newspaper
• Sequins – various shapes such as circle and snowflakes
• Cotton balls
• Red ribbon (optional)

What You Do:

1. Lay newspaper on a work surface (this could get messy!)
2. Turn a pine cone over and place dabs of glue on the bottom. Take a cotton ball one at a time and glue them to the bottom of the pine cone so some of the cotton ball is sticking out over the edges. Voila – we have snow!
3. If you would like to make mini Christmas trees, you need to paint the pine cones green. If you want them to look like natural trees, wait until the next step.
4. Turn the pine cone over and let it sit on cotton balls. Pour some green paint in to a bowl and using a paintbrush, paint the cone until it's covered in green, being careful not to let the paint get on the cotton balls.
5. Once it's dry, dab some craft glue on the pointy tips of the pine cone. If your cone doesn't have any paint, use the glue more liberally all over the cone.
6. Sprinkle glitter on the cone until all the glue is covered in glistening silver or gold.
7. To make the trees really sparkle and come alive (or if your kids just love sequins) dab more glue on the tips of the pine cone and place a piece of sequins all around the tree. And for even more added glamour, have the kids wrap a thin red ribbon around the pine cone like a garland.
8. When you're all finished, either place the trees on the mantle, or tie a ribbon to the top of the pine cone and hang from your real tree. The kids have now helped you clean up the yard and made you a new set of holiday decorations!