Pinecone Christmas Tree Lights

Christmas is such a great time of the year to have a go at crafts with your family and kids. We decided to share our holiday craft project and show how to create a unique Christmas lights out of pinecones.

It is an easy and exiting project that will be interesting for all family members. Small kids will find it exciting collecting pinecones and helping adults arranging it, older kids will be able to do most of the work on their own but under strong supervision of parents. Strong adult supervision and help required when using a hot glue gun and arranging the lights on the tree.

All the materials needed for this project are easily accessible and listed under materials.

This is under an hour Holidays project guarantees a good time with your family and many years of good memories in the future when you will use the Holiday lights that was made by you and your children.

• Pinecones

* For the pinecones you need to go outside and find the nearest pine tree.

• Small, round Christmas Lights

*To find small, round Christmas lights you can go to the local store or go to http://www.aachristmas.com/vpasp/globe_led_lights....

• Hot-glue gun

* You can find a hot-glue gun at a hardware store or you can go to http://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Hardware-Hand-Too...

• Craft glitter

* Craft glitter can be found at a Wal-Mart.

• Spray glue that dries clear

* The best place to find spray glue that dries clear is at an office store or at any craft store.

• NOTE: You will also need a tool to remove the scales from a pinecone (scissors or pliers work well).
  

• NOTE: Look at "Where to get materials" for tips and suggestions on obtaining the materials.

2.a Hold the pinecone from the top step to avoid the sharp points on the scales.

**CAUTION: WEAR A PAIR OF GARDENING GLOVES TO AVOID GETTING POKED OR CUT BY THE PINECONE

2.b Use scissors to cut the scales off the pinecone, removing one scale at a time.

*NOTE: When removing the scales, remember that the largest non-cracked or broken pieces of pinecone scales will provide the best end result.

2.c Continue the process in step 2.b until you have a good amount of scales.

*NOTE: You will need about 6-7 scales for each light. You can calculate an actual amount based on the number of lights on the Christmas Lights wire.

• Collect 6 or 7 scales that you have cut out and sit them on a flat surface.

• Arrange the pinecone clippings in a flower like shape around the Christmas Lights like shown in the picture above.

5.a Plug in the hot glue gun and let it warm up for 2-3 minutes.

**CAUTION: THE GLUE GUN TIP IS EXTREMELY HOT. AVOID TOUCHING IT. THIS STEP SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED BY OR WITH THE HELP OF A PERSON WHO IS 14 YEARS OR OLDER.

5.b Squeeze a small dot of glue on the Christmas Light base.

5.c Place a pinecone scale on top of the glue and press on it firmly to hold them in place.

*NOTE: Hold it in place about 5 seconds while the glue dries.

5.d Glue 5 pinecone clippings the same way next to each other in a circular path in order to create a flower.

5.e Add a 2nd layer to make the flower look fuller.

6.a Cut out different pieces of ribbon.

6.b Wrap the ribbon around the exposed stem and tie it in a bow

*NOTE: If you don't have a lot of pinecones the ribbon would add a little extra flare.

7.a Spray the spray glue over the top of the pinecone flower.

7.b Sprinkle the glitter over the top of the pinecone light.

7.c Shake off any excess of the glitter that doesn't stick.

*NOTE: Having something like construction paper under your work helps here at this step so you can reuse any glitter that doesn't stick.

* NOTE: We did every 3rd light on the strip but you can do it as frequently as you like.

* NOTE: Reference to the picture above on how the finish product should look

***Now your ready to arrange your Pinecone Christmas Tree Lights on the tree.***

Prepared By:

Marina Kassimis

Daniel Kinney

Delesia Scott

Samuel Bates