pine cone garland tutorial

Hi everyone! To cheer up your Monday, I've got a tutorial on how I made my pine cone garland! This is such an easy little holiday project to set your mantle off right. And it's so fast! You can definitely finish it in an afternoon. 

 A few years ago, I collected pine cones from the yard and spray painted them silver. I used them as a centerpiece for our thanksgiving table. This year I had new plans for these sweet little guys. If you haven't spray painted pine cones, it's very easy. I just laid out some cardboard outside and got to spraying! Simply rotate and keep spraying until it's all covered. Allow to dry completely before next step.

Now you need to screw in the screw eyes so you can hang them. These are from Home Depot. Pick a finish that matches what color you are spraypainting so you don't have to paint these, too. This part isn't too hard, but your fingers might hurt by the end. You can always use pliers, or just give them to your big muscle boyfriend/husband and I'm sure he'll take care of it. In the beginning it may seem like they are not screwing in, but you just have to apply a lot of pressure and twist at the same time.

Now you're ready to string them into a garland. You can use anything from ribbon to yarn to fishing line. I went with yarn. I laid the pine cones out on the floor to roughly get an idea of the spacing. You can get really picky about the spacing or just eyeball it. I eyeballed a few inches in between each one. Start with the center pine cone. String it on and tie a knot in the center. Now, work away from the center on each side. And you're done! Hang your garland and enjoy the immediate holiday cheer effect :)