Ideas for Pine Cone Christmas Crafts for Kiddos

In a previous post, I gave instructions for treating freshly gathered pine cones.  Treating them is crucial to kill bugs, clean the pine cones and deal with the sap.  After you do all that work, you can leave the pine cones in a basket for a decorative look or you can do some other crafts.  Pine cone lend themselves to some fun ideas based on their shape.  Here are some from around the web that can make adorable ornaments for Christmas

image from blessedmom

These skiers require some work, but are just one example of an adorable use for pine cones.  The instructions are for just the pine cone, painted and glittered, but can be used to make the skiers with a bit of imagination.

 from craftynoodle

This adorable owl is made with the help of googly eyes and eyelashes!  What a cute way to dress up a cone!

image from kaboose

Here is a great outdoor ornament transforming a pinecone into a bird feeder.  It uses peanut butter and bird seed and would great hanging on an outdoor tree!

Image from the Wool Acorn Shop and Blog

This one uses minimal supplies, just pom-poms for a cute and colorful miniature Christmas tree.  The pom-poms are used as Christmas balls.  Keep the colors light and they will show up beautifully hanging on a tree. This tutorial explains how to felt wool, but using purchased pom-poms would be adorable as well!

Image from the Magic Onions

Here is a clever use of pine cones as gnomes or Santas from The Magic Onions. You will need acorn caps, wooden balls and either wool roving, yarn or fiberfill for the beard.  Very nice use of natural items.

busy bee kids crafts

Here is another way to turn pine cones into ornaments. This craft uses pipe cleaners, pom-poms and googly eyes!

from Good Housekeeping

This is a very elegant pine cone craft from Good Housekeeping.  There aren't detailed instructions, but the idea is to either paint a pine cone or leave it unpainted and then string it up with a pretty bead and hang.  Pine cones look elegant painted white or silver and really stand out on a Christmas tree.