Thanksgiving’s over, the Holiday season is here, and it’s time to get out the glue guns and glitter. Last week I made a group of towers out of pinecones and hazelnuts to decorate the sideboard in our dining room in the City. The materials were simple, inexpensive, and easy to get, and the construction was straightforward too. I think the result, though, looks rich and festive.
You could use pre-cut styrofoam cones as bases, but they can be pricey (for styrofoam cones), and they limit the size and shape of your creations. Plain brown paper is cheaper and more flexible, and its color camouflages any gaps between the cones. Because you’ll need hot glue to hold things together, it’s best not to involve small children in construction. But gathering cones and the glittering phase are fun for everyone.
Supplies
terra cotta flower pots
brown construction or wrapping paper (available online at any hardware store)
a hot glue gun and glue sticks (lots) (available online at hardware and craft stores)
pinecones (gathered or available at garden centers), hazelnuts (or walnuts, unshelled almonds, or chestnuts)
Mod Podge or diluted white glue and glitter (optional)
Instructions
1. Roll a rectangle of paper into a cone of your desired size and hold it in place with a piece or two of sticky tape. Trim the bottom level with scissors. Ideally it should rest on the bottom of the pot, but if you want a cone with a wider base, you can size it to rest on the ledge inside the rim of the pot. Stuff larger cones with wads of paper to keep them sturdy.
2. Working around the cone, squirt hot glue onto the base of each pinecone and stick it onto the paper base. If the cones have a tendency to slip or fall off, wait a few seconds until the glue is tacky before placing them. Tilt long narrow pinecones increasingly upward as you approach the top of the cone. (Shorter, fatter pinecones can be stuck straight on the cone all the way to the top.) And remember to save a particularly nice cone to top off your tower.
3. Use the same technique for the nuts — just be careful not to burn your fingers with the hot glue.
The finished towers looked nice unadorned, but I wanted a little sparkle, and so I decided to add a light dusting of glitter. (Julia was enthusiastically in favor of this idea.) I chose coarse copper glitter for the darkest cones, a fine soft gold glitter for the other pinecone towers, and uncolored German glass glitter for the nuts.
I brushed the tips of the cones with Mod Podge and sprinkled on the sparkle, shaking off and reusing the excess.
In daylight (and in these pictures), the effect is subtle, but in the evening –particularly in candlelight– these decorations twinkle festively in the background.
I thought I was finished with this project, but this weekend I found these seed pods from a sweet gum tree lying on the ground in Southampton, and I couldn’t resist picking them up. Maybe just one more?
