Light the Night Woodsy Welcome

Have you ever heard the quote “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? If that's right up your alley, this re-purposing project may be perfect for you! Using natural products that you find on a walk or from a local brush pile, and a glass container from your recycling, you will transform everyday items into a brilliant piece to welcome any guest!

• Large jar (pickle jar)

• Several sizes of pine cones

• Battery powered LED light garland

• Multiple Christmas bulb sizes

• Dogwood branches

Your choice of coniferous branches:

• Cypress
• Blue spruce
• Cedar
• Pine
• Arbor-Vitae
• Yew

Here is a picture of my supplies so you can generally see what I use.🙂

• Collect pine cones and remove all debris and needles that may have stuck to them.

• Remove any insects that may have made homes in your pine cones. Soak them in a bucket with 1/2 cup of white vinegar for 20 minutes, stirring them around at least once to rotate top ones to the bottom.

• Place them on newspaper or rag towels to dry overnight.

• Now you want to prevent them from molding by drying them completely. Place the pine cones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so sap doesn't get baked to your baking sheet. (In my case, I only had one cookie sheet so I just lined my oven racks with parchment paper.)

• Bake at 225°F for 2-3 hours depending on the size of your pine cone. Allow them to dry completely before you use them.

If you have not already used these lights, they're probably all folded and kinked up. To fix this, slide both hands down the string of lights, and straighten them so that you are able to easily place them in the jar. It should look similar to the right picture above.

To start off, you will need to anchor your light string around the bottom of your first pine cone so that it will not come loose.

After placing your first layer of pine cones, fill in the little spaces in between with it-bitty pine cones so that there's no blank spaces.

Pick the first bulb of your choice and settle it into the pine cones so that the hanging hook faces the inside of the glass container.

While you place more pine cones in your jar, remember to carefully place your light string so that it sits on the pine cones in the right position and that you can see the light string.

After filling the empty spaces and stringing your lights, place a couple more bulbs in your jar.

After you put the amount of ornaments that you want in your jar, cover and fill the rest of your jar with pine cones until it reaches the base of the rim, as you see above.

Now that you are finished with your pine cones, separate the pine cones a bit so that you have enough space in the center for your redwood. Then, insert your redwood into the container so that it looks like the right picture above.

After your redwood is in, get your choice of coniferous plants and stick them in also. Stick them in so that you hide the battery case.🙂

Now that you have finished your woodsy light, set your work of art in the dark and watch it glow!😊