You never know what you might find outside or around your home that can be transformed into something unique.
Our property has numerous evergreens and every year in fall they drop tons of pine cones. My husband can't stand how they litter the lawn. And in spring when the snow thaws there they all are.
So, this year..
I gathered up a bunch of the cones and decided to try something creative. For Spring and Easter I usually give my garden boat planter a seasonal makeover, and these cones will become a nice-looking accent for the season.
NARROW PINE CONES
For this project you need a certain kind of pine cone - narrow and long like a cigar. I chose the cones that were tight (hadn’t spread out to drop their seed yet) and were fairly straight.
ORANGE PAINT
I used two tones of orange paint - creates a bit of depth. I sprayed the darker first and then lightly overlayed with the lighter orange. You can get these spray paints from Amazon, or your local hardware store.
SPRAY AND DRY
All painted now, but still not quite looking like carrots yet. But wait!
ARTIFICIAL GREENS
I bought some artificial greens from Amazon that would be used for the leafy carrot tops.
GLUING TOPS
I pulled the individual leaf sections off so I could better arrange them. Then with a glue gun I fastened them to the top of the pine cones.
FINAL RESULTS
And there you have it, voila! A bunch of carrots to use however you want. And they will hold up outside!
If you don’t have pine trees in your yard, try checking with neighbors. You might also find them in parking lots, near sidewalks, or at the edges of playgrounds where pine trees are common. Some garden centers, craft stores, or farmers' markets sell cleaned pine cones if you’d rather skip the collecting process.
