A Pine Cone Bract Wreath by Somewhat Quirky Design

Everyone hide your pine cones! No pine cone is safe when I'm around. The first thing I think of every time I see a pine cone is "what can I make from that?" I've made wreaths and Christmas trees that are posted here on Hometalk.

For a couple of years I've had it in my brain to make a wreath out of pine cone bracts - with the same technique that I've been using for the Christmas trees. Which means removing the bracts from the pine cone. En masse. You need a lot of them. Oh, in case you aren't a botanist, a bract is the "leaf" of the cone. You can see how I remove the bracts HERE in my blog post for making Christmas trees.





I use a styrofoam wreath form for these wreaths. Of course you will need to check the blog post for a project list and instructions.





I used 3 different sizes of bracts for each wreath. There is an important reason why.





You have to follow my special instructions so your wreath won't be wonky and possibly even ugly. GASP!





It takes a little time to make one of these gems but I think the final result is lovely .





Just pick out your ribbon and hang it up for long lasting fall and winter decor for years to come.





I made two wreaths out of two different types of pine cones.





One type of cone (used on the larger wreath) was very large. The type of cone (used on the smaller wreath) was very small. I loved the coloring on the smaller cones and thought they would be really pretty. But they are really small and it is MUCH more difficult to remove the bracts from the cones without damaging them.





It probably took 5 times as long to make the smaller wreath than it did to make the larger wreath with the larger bracts.
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Once you've done that, you're done! Don't forget to check the blog post (below) for a special trick for learning how to remove all those dangling hot glue threads.





As I mentioned, I also make Christmas trees with pine cone bracts. You will find the information about them HERE.






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/11592780/how-to-make-a-pine-cone-bract-wreath site