Don’t spend money on store-bought Christmas decorations this year! Instead, start crafting early and make your decor for a fraction of the price! Learn how to make a DIY pinecone flower Christmas tree to impress your family and friends!
Believe it or not, there are three plastic tubs full of pinecones in our garage, so I found a way to use them in my decor!
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support. (disclosure policy)
This year, I decided to make two large Christmas trees, and I am thrilled with how they turned out!
There’s no telling what these would cost if you bought them from a store!
Ready to see my beautiful creation?
Aren’t they gorgeous??
They were very inexpensive because we already had the pinecones!
But what if you don’t have a pinecone stash in your garage?
Where to get pinecones for a DIY Christmas Tree
There are two main ways to get your hands on pinecones.
You can forage for them or buy them.
Here are tips on how to do both!
Forage for pinecones
1)The easiest and cheapest way to collect pinecones is to pick them up from your yard. If you don’t have a pine tree in your yard, contact your family and friends and ask if they have one.
2) Take a walk in your neighborhood. Many people dislike picking up pinecones because they are sticky. Most people don’t want to dull their mower blades by running over them. You might be doing them a big favor by picking them up!
3) Check the woods, a campground, or a local park for pine trees. First, ask permission if it’s ok to pick them up off the ground.
4) Contact public campuses in your area and ask if you can pick up the pinecones as a public service? Examples would be churches, schools, or businesses on wooded property.
Purchase pinecones
If none of the suggestions above work out, you can always purchase pinecones.
Several types of stores carry pinecones.
Shop around to find the best price.
- Amazon- order in bulk and have them shipped right to your door
- Craft stores- Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, or JOANN
- Home stores- Lowes or Home Depot
- Dollar Stores- Dollar Tree or Dollar General
- Local stores- Walmart or Target
How to Prepare Foraged Pinecones for Crafts
If you collect pinecones from the outside, they should be cleaned and “debugged” before you use them inside.
Read this post on how to preserve pinecones for indoor use!
Now let’s get this DIY started!
Steps to Make a Pinecone Christmas Tree
Gather
Gather or purchase the following items to complete this project:
- Styrofoam cone(s)- two 4.75 x 17.9-inch cones from Hobby Lobby
- Brown spray paint- Rust-oleum in Espresso
- Pinecones- foraged from weeping white pine trees
- Pruners
- Thimble
- Hot glue gun & glue sticks
- Dowel rod – two 3/4 inch dowel rods cut to 6 inches in length
- Saw
- Wood circle plaques- 2 per pack from Hobby Lobby
- Drill – 3/16 inch drill bit -1/4 inch drill bit
- Wood screws- 1 and 1/4
- Paint- (optional) Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White
- Wax- (optional) Valspar Antiquing wax and Annie Sloan Clear wax
- Paintbrush
- Wax brush
- Lint-free paper towels
Prep the cone
You have several items you need to prepare before you can put the pinecone tree together.
Spray paint the styrofoam cone(s) brown.
After it dries, turn on its side and spray paint the bottom too!
*Important tip- I did not think to make a hole in the bottom of the cone to insert the dowel rod before I attached the pinecones. Do this step now because you could damage the pinecone flowers if you put them on first!
Carefully make a hole 3/4 inches wide and 1 inch deep.
Make sure the dowel fits in the hole, then set it aside.
Divide pinecones by size
Make groups of small, medium, and large pinecones.
Make pinecone flowers
Cut your pinecones into flowers using the following steps.
Use the pruners to remove the small pieces around the stem. These can be discarded in the trash.
Cut the stem so it’s approximately 1/4 inch long.
Cut the pinecone leaving two layers of flower petals.
Each flower should look like the picture above.
Repeat the steps with the remaining pinecone to make as many flowers as possible.
A large pinecone will give you three flowers.
Save the top portion for later.
Save the single “petals” for use later as well.
Divide the flowers into different size groups, small, medium, and large.
Attach Flowers to Cone
Sit your cone on a table.
Start with the large flowers.
Use a thimble to push the center of the stem into the styrofoam cone.
Avoid pushing on the petals, or they may break off!
Continue the steps going all the way around the cone.
When you reach the middle, switch to the medium size flowers and continue until you get two inches from the top.
Don’t Make My Mistake
I wasn’t thinking and made a big oops!
When I got to the top of the cone, I accidentally chopped the top off by pushing the stems into it.
So. I used my glue gun on the low setting and glued the top back on.
The high setting will melt the styrofoam.
From this point, I cut the stems off of the small flowers and glued them directly onto the cone.
When you get one inch from the top, choose a tree topper.
Remember how I told you to save the tops of each pine cone?
They are perfect for a topper and to fill any small holes between the flowers.
Push the stem into the top of the cone, then pull it back out and put a bit of hot glue in the hole so it stays put!
Fill in holes
The top portion of the pine cone works perfectly to fill in empty spaces around the top or between the flowers.
You can also glue the leftover “petals” to fill the holes.
You can use the trees as they are now, but I want mine to be taller, so I will build a stand to elevate them.
Steps to Make a Stand for a pinecone Christmas tree
Dowel rod(s)
Cut the dowel rod to six inches long.
Paint
Paint the wood circle plaques and the dowel rods white.
It took two coats to get the coverage I wanted.
Coat the wood pieces in clear wax.
Then, add a layer of brown antiquing wax and remove most of it with a lint-free paper towel.
How to attach dowels
Use the 3/16-inch drill bit to drill a hole through the circle plaque.
Then use the 1/4-inch drill bit to widen the hole on the bottom of the plaque enough to sink the screw head.
Put the screw through the plaque and into the dowel to secure them together.
Hot glue the cone onto the dowel.
Display your Pinecone Christmas Tree
Guess what?
This is a Christmas in July post, and even though I enjoyed watching Hallmark Christmas movies while I made the trees, I’m not ready to pull out the rest of my Christmas decor!
So now, I’ll display my beautiful trees with a gorgeous pinecone flower wreath from last Fall!
If you’re curious about how I styled these beautiful trees for Christmas, check out our Winter Woodland Decor post!
I had several pinecone flowers and “petal” pieces left over and I made nature-inspired pinecone and woodslice ornaments with them!
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Blessings, Donna and Rich
Pin It For Later
More Christmas DIY Inspiration
If you love to make your own Christmas decor check out the posts below!
- How to Create an Ornament Advent Calendar
- Vintage Cone Christmas Tree DIY
- Unique Christmas Ornaments Made with Napkins
- Easy Cone Christmas Tree DIY
- How to Make Your Own Christmas Village
ITEMS NEEDED To COMPLETE the PROJECT
Click on the picture for the item you are interested in purchasing.
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support. (disclosure policy)
Hi Donna, these are fantastic! Who doesn’t love pinecones?
Pinned!
Thank you Cindy! I love how they turned out!!
Beautiful idea Donna, I love them! I have pinecones, but mine are not opened like yours are. My mom gets them in her yard from the neighbor and so we picked them up last year, but they were all closed tight. I even baked some in the oven hoping they would open up, but that did not work. I used a few in decor last year, but I love the look of pinecones from fall on.
I love using pinecones in my fall and winter decor too! I still have a bunch left so I’m going to have to figure out other DIYS for them! Thanks, Donna
Hi Donna! I think I remember in one of your previous posts, you mentioned the tub of pine cones. I remember thinking- oh I wonder what she is going to make with them! Now I know! I love how these trees turned out. They look spectacular.
Thanks so much Anna! This project took us from three tubs of pinecones down to two!! I’m still going to have to come up with some more projects to use them all. lol!! I love how they turned out too! So pretty!!
Omg, what a great idea! I could never think of that in a million years. The only problem is that I can find only spruce cones around here; maybe when we go to the seaside, there are tons of pine cones there. Brilliant!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you like the trees! Good luck hunting for pinecones. You can use different kinds and each flower will look different! The long skinny pinecones like I used are much easier to cut than the small and more compact pine cones! Let me know if you make one!! Blessings, Donna
This is fantastic, Donna! The pinecones add such a rustic vibe to a holiday display. They are going to be stunning paired with red for Christmas! I love how inexpensive these are to create, too. Thanks so much for sharing at Home Imagined this week!!
Thank you, Rachel! I am thrilled with how they turned out and I can’t wait to style them for Christmas! I’m planning to decorate one of my Christmas trees with a nature inspired theme to go along with them! Have a wonderful week!
These look so good Donna and good for you for getting ahead! It doesn’t feel like the holidays are on the way but I know they will be here before we blink. I can’t wait to see your nature theme this year. No doubt it is going to be fabulous! Hugs, CoCo
Thanks, CoCo! First time I’ve done anything for Christmas in July! Not sure if I can pull off the nature theme, but I’m going to go for it! Have a good day!
Donna I absolutely love these! I use pine cones for so much decor and crafts and this is a fabulous idea! Thanks for the inspiration friend and you will be featured tomorrow at the Home Imagined party. Have a great day. XO- MaryJo
That’s so exciting, MaryJo! It’s always ah honor to be featured at Home Imagined! Thanks and I will see you there!!
I have a yard full of pine cones and have yet to try to make a tree topiary with them. Thanks for the great tutorial to try out. This post will be a feature this week. #HomeMattersParty
Hi Donna! Let me know if you make a topiary with all of your pinecones! So excited to be featured at your party! Thanks so much!