DIY Cute & Colourful LED Pine Cone Christmas Tree
Hi, today I’m excited to be participating in the 7th Annual Handmade Holidays blog hop with lots of fellow blogging buddies! Please be sure to check out everyone’s wonderful Christmas decoration ideas at the end of this post.
Every day, I walk the dog down our local park and the ground is covered with lovely pine cones. Sometimes I can’t help myself I pick a couple up and bring them home with the intention of creating something with them.
They just sit in a bucket in the fireplace.
However, the other day I was looking at the pine cones and it struck me that they look like mini Christmas tree. That’s when I got the idea to make my mini pine cone Christmas tree with lights ornaments.
One of my favourite things to recycle is tin cans. So I decided to use a tin can as my Christmas tree pot but also add colour to it by painting the can with a marbled effect.
Also what Christmas tree is complete without lights. I think these colourful mini pine cone Christmas tree looks really cute and make a lovely desktop Christmas decoration.
My kids want me to make them one each for their rooms, which I will do as I have a plentiful supply of pine cones.
This post is part of the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop 2017. Please check out all the other fabulous Christmas decoration ideas from my fellow craft bloggers.
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What you need to make Pine Cone Christmas Tree with Lights
- Pine cone – Medium sized is best
- Small tin can – the ones that are half the size of the normal tin cans
- Hot glue gun
- Stiff cardboard or foam
- Small piece of brown felt
- Green spray paint
- Cream spray paint
- Scissors
- Red nail polish – not the fast drying kind
- Battery operated copper string lights – You want the ones with a small 2 battery pack or micro battery operated.
How to make a mini pine cone Christmas tree
- Firstly wash and carefully dry the pine cone and then spray paint it green all over.
- Next spray paint the tin can cream.
- When the paint has dried on the tin can it is then ready for marbling. To do this in a tub of warm water add a few drops of nail varnish so that it forms a film on the surface of the water. If the varnish doesn’t spread out you can use a cocktail stick to help it spread across the surface of the water.
- Then carefully dip the outside edge of the tin can into the water. The varnish will cling to the tin can and as you roll the can cover it completely.
- Draw around the tin can onto the cardboard and felt and cut out a disc of each material to fit the top of the tin can. Glue the discs together and pierce a small hole through the disc to one side. Thread the copper string lights through this hole.
- Using a hot glue gun, glue the pine cone to the center of the felt disc. Then wrap the string lights around the pine cone Christmas tree.
- Place the battery pack inside the marble tin can and then place the tree on top as a lid.
Assembling the pine cone Christmas tree.
You might want to check out some of my other popular DIY Christmas decoration posts.
Tin Can Upcycled Advent Calendar
Upcycled Shuttlecock Angel
Upcycled Sweater Felt Garland
Sweater Upcycled Christmas Oranments
Or if your looking for more pine cone Christmas crafts there are a lot here on allfreeChristmas crafts.
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This is so cute! I love the marbling effect. These would make great stocking stuffers too!
>> Christene
Keys to Inspiration
Thank you, I’m into marling at the moment.
Super cute project! I love how you colored the can. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much!
HELLO!!! That is the cutest little thing I have ever seen!!! How crafty you are 🙂
Thank you Susanne 💙😊
I’m living and traveling full-time in my RV and this would be the perfect Christmas tree for us!
Thank you, yes this is definitely a portable Christmas tree. Living and traveling in the RV sounds interesting.
Claire, you always have such fun and cheerful ideas. Thanks for the bit of whimsy.
Thank you, Lynn. I believe crafting should be fun, colourful and make you smile.
Super cute project Claire! I can see a few of these in a row as a centrepiece for a table without it being too bulky!! Great idea!
Thanks Sam, I like the centrepiece idea.
Eek this is just too cute! We’re in the middle of a huge home renovation at the moment so might not have space for a big tree this year, I might be making lots of these instead! x #HomeEtc
Thank you so much. They are really easy to make.
This is so cute! I’ve got my mom collecting pine cones for Christmas crafts, I’ll have to ask her to snag a few more for me 🙂
Thank you, I’m lucky there are loads of pine cones in the park at the end of my road.
I like these cute pinecone trees and that you added lights.
Thank you, I like my Christmas lights.
So cute! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
Thank you 😊
So clever! …and cute too!
Thank you Jennifer and thanks for organising the blog hop.
Very cute idea! Would look super as place settings or on a mantel. Visiting from Remodelaholic.
Thank you, Victoria. I think I will be putting a few of these on the mantle.
Claire you are so clever. This is adorable! How do you think of these things?
Thank you, Wendy. My head is just stuff full of craft which is dying to come out. I don’t have the time unfortunately to make all the things I want to make.
[…] the lovely Christmas lights on those dark cold winter nights. Last week I made some cute led mini Pine Cone Christmas trees and this week I’ve added some lovely Christmas bottle lights to my illuminations. […]
This is so creative Claire! I love the dipping effect on the tin and adding tiny LED lights to the pinecone is perfect.
Thank you so much Toni. I’m really into the marbling effect now.
What a cute and creative idea! And you make it look so simple, too!
Best,
Kelly
Thank you, it is simple Kelly.
What an adorable idea. This can be tucked in so many places around the house.
Thank you, yes this one is actually in the kitchen at the moment.
This is really cute. I am fixated on all sorts of uses for those mini lights, love your idea.
Thank you so much.
You always make simple things look so beautiful! Love it. Pinned. Thanks for sharing with our link party!
Thank you so much!
This is so cute, I never thought of pine cones in this way but they do look like mini Christmas trees 😁 #homeetc
Thank you Anne Marie. Not only do they look like mini Christmas trees but they come in all different shapes and sizes. I’ve just spotted some really cute dinky cones in the park that I want to make something with.
This is amazingly cute Claire I love it
Ahh, thank you Amber 😊
SUCH a clever idea Claire!! Love them — I reckon my littles would like to make something similar… perhaps not quite as technical — the marbling with nail varnish is a fab trick!! — but they’d love to make some little trees! Thanks so much for sharing!! Cx #HomeEtc
The kids could decorate them with those bags of tiny pompoms you get in the pound shops and perhaps some glitter on the tips.
This is so creative! I love homemade holiday decorations! Thank you so much for sharing on Whisk It Wednesday. I hope to see you there again soon! Have a wonderful week. Carrie @ Carrie’s Home Cooking
Thank you so much for hosting.
[…] How to Make a Pine Cone Christmas Tree with Lights from Pillar Box Blue […]
Claire this is really original. Why had I never thought that the pinecones looked like little trees? You did a great job and I imagine they must look awesome all lit up.
Thank you Mary. They are kind of sweet, a great decoration for the desk
This is such a clever idea. I love the marbling on the can too – I tried that a while back and it’s such fun isn’t it? I’m sure someone in our family has a tree with those tall thin pinecones on it, I’ll have to check, they could work really well for this idea.
Thanks, Julie. Lucky for me there is a park at the end of my road full of trees with pinecones in different shapes and sizes.
Wow! This is such a cool idea!
Thank you, Michelle.
Hi. Two Chicks and a Mom featured your cute Christmas Tree at Party in Your PJs this week–hope you can stop by again!
https://twochicksandamom.blogspot.com/2017/11/thanksgiving-week-party-in-your-pjs.html
Thank you so much I look forward to seeing it. Happy Thanksgiving!
[…] Christmas tree’s but they are a major theme in my crafting this season. I’ve made, pine cone ones, felted sweater ones, and a giant wooden one. The latest addition to the collection are these […]
What a cute idea! We’ve used pine cones to make ornaments before but never to make the actual tree. Thanks for sharing this fun craft idea with us at the Virtual Refrigerator. Pinned.
Pine cones are great for so many crafts.
very nice and cool.
Thank you!
[…] thought it would be lovely to make a cute mini Christmas cloche scene. In the past, I’ve made painted pine cone Christmas trees. And I’d spotted tiny pine cones in the park that would be perfect for this. Rather […]
Interesting idea! I’d decorate the pot in a more Christmas related style.
Thank you 😊