Crafts from fir cones

Pine cones are a versatile material suitable for making crafts on a variety of topics. To create not only an aesthetic, but also a durable product, the fruits of conifers must undergo preliminary processing.

Before starting the implementation of the cone crafts, the material should be properly prepared.

Even if the opened buds look completely dry, it is still advised to dry them additionally. This can be done in several ways.

• The longest one involves drying naturally in a vine basket or trellis box. The selected container must not be airtight or provoke the creation of a greenhouse effect. Its inner space is covered with sheets of white paper or even newspapers, after which conifers are laid out on top. Young and still closed cones will have to be placed in one layer, and from the open ones it is not forbidden to build 2-3 tiers. The filled container is removed for a couple of weeks in a well-ventilated but dry place.
• The next method requires the use of an open cast iron pan. It is filled with cones in such a way that only one layer is obtained, and put on a small fire. During drying, the fruit should be gradually turned over.
• It will also be possible to dry the material in the oven. Instances are laid out on a baking sheet covered with foil and put away in an oven heated to 250 degrees. The procedure takes about 40-50 minutes with the door open.
• Finally, processing can be carried out in a microwave oven. The device is set to maximum power, and the timer value is fixed at one minute. The bumps will need to be laid out on a plate protected with a paper towel close to each other.

Before drying the fruits, it is also recommended to additionally process them. To get a closed material, it will need to be immersed in PVA or wood glue for half a minute.

The unusual shape of the cones can be obtained if you first hold them in boiling water until elasticity, and then bend them properly and secure with adhesive tape.

To this end, you will need to prepare a solution of 6 percent vinegar, taking equal proportions of vinegar and pure water. The workpieces are kept in it for about half an hour, and then they are already dried.

Of course, before drying, the fruits are cleaned with a brush or washed under running water. You can also use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, or a brush.

The material for crafts can be left in its natural form, painted, varnished or sprinkled with artificial snow.

In winter, together with the children, it will be possible to quickly and easily create several decorations for the New Year.

A graceful ball on a Christmas tree is considered an excellent craft for schoolchildren - moderately complex, but still easy to implement with your own hands. To work in this case, you need the bumps themselves, a foam base in the form of a ball, tape, wire and hairspray. The parts are fixed either with a glue gun or with superglue. If desired, the composition is decorated with glitter. Each cone is first sprayed with varnish and sprinkled with glitter. Further, a wire twisted in a spiral is fixed at the bottom of it. Dropping glue on the free tip of the rod, it should be immediately thrust into the ball. Having fixed all the cones in a similar way, it remains only to attach a hanging tape to the toy.

A beautiful New Year's wreath can also be made at home. The easiest way, of course, is to create a base of long spruce branches, and then decorate it with conifers, but it is much more interesting to make a door decoration entirely from cones. The frame for the composition is made of plastic, cardboard or wire. A small wire ring is preliminarily put on each fruit. Alternately, the cones are strung on the wire, after which its edges are twisted and decorated with a bow. The basis for the composition can also be built from newspapers twisted in a ring and fixed with threads. First, such a frame is wrapped in a "rain" of green color, and then, with the help of glue, it is decorated with cones.

A Christmas star is formed from cones of different sizes, a multi-colored ribbon and a hard wire, an alternative to which can be several even rods. At the first stage, a metal frame is formed in the form of a six-pointed star. Further, cones are alternately planted on the base, from large to small. The top of the wire is bent and a ribbon is tied to it, forming a loop for hanging.

The animal associated with winter is a bear, and it is his figure that is logical to assemble from cones.

The work will require a lot of materials: first of all, it should be one spruce cone, four half-open pine cones, several alder ones and a large open pine cone with a rounded crown. From other natural materials, peppercorns, acorn caps, light birch bark and a small saw cut are useful. The tool list includes a knife and awl, sandpaper, scissors, glue and varnish.

The longest fruit is used as the body of the beast. It is on it by the "flake under flake" method with the use of glue that the rest of the parts will be connected.

Pine cones are suitable for the animal's paws, and the hind ones should be slightly larger than the front ones. The head is created from an open pinecone. It is decorated with acorn caps - ears and nose. The tip of the nose and eyes are indicated by peppercorns. The bear's muzzle will become more interesting if you glue small pieces of birch bark under his eyes. The finished composition is fixed on the cut.

A candlestick made of cones is quite simple to construct. To create it, you only need a wooden saw cut of the required size, lace, paint or artificial snow, spruce branches, glue and the cones themselves. Dried fruits are fixed with glue along the edge of the saw cut, covered with paint, snow or sparkles, and tied with lace. Additionally, the design is made out with twigs.

A huge number of crafts on the theme of autumn can be made from spruce or other coniferous cones. So, for a kindergarten or school, you can create a funny hedgehog holding mushrooms on pins and needles, a bouquet of beautiful autumn flowers, a cute squirrel or a forest of pine trees.

You can also make a basket of cones, which is then filled with artificial fruits or vegetables. The craft requires the use of approximately 60 pieces of pine cones, pieces of wire of different thicknesses, and hot melt glue. The process begins by constructing a circle of 10 or 12 cones and a thin wire.

The wire is attached to the first bump and then used to wrap the next. The elements are held together in such a way that the lower parts of the fruit form the outer edge of the circle. Further, the next ring is formed with a smaller diameter of 8 or 10 cones. In general, two such blanks are enough for a basket, but if desired, it can be deepened with the help of an additional part.

Finished rings are fixed with a hot glue gun. To create a handle, 8-10 cones are first connected with a wire. Then they are fixed on a thick wire frame. A circle of thick cardboard is used as the bottom of the basket. Several cones are also glued to the bottom with the bottom outward.

An excellent autumn craft will be a topiary - an artificial tree. It is made very simply: first, a stick of the required length is fixed in the center of the ceramic pot with glue, and the entire free space is filled with floral foam. A foam ball is put on the free end of the barrel. A pin is glued to the base of each cone, after which they are stuck into the workpiece.

It remains only to decorate the finished structure: cover the floral foam with moss or pebbles, paint the trunk, add small fabric bows or artificial berries to the cones.

There are even more interesting and funny cone crafts in the video below.