Pinecone Wreath

I am a little sad to banish my tulle Halloween Wreath to the attic, however Halloween is done and it's time for a new look. Bring on the Pinecone Wreath! I've been toying with this idea for a couple of years now after seeing them sell at places like Crate & Barrel for upwards of a hundred bucks. Yeah right! I mean, they're just freaking pine cones. They've popped up on quite a few blogs as well this year. Here's how to make your own:

Step 1: Send your kids out into the woods to get some pinecones. We did a "nature hike" at my parents' cabin to aquire the pinecones. You will need quite a bit. I used about half of a reusable shopping bag full of pinecones.

Step 2: Gather your supplies: wreath form (grapevine, styrofoam, whatever you've got laying around), glue gun, tons and tons of glue sticks, your bag of treasures from the woods - or the craft store if you don't have pine trees in your area! Bonus supplies: Cup of coffee and an Ipod

Step 3: Start gluing the pinecones down. It helps to start in one spot and work your way around. You don't want to go all random and then have to fit them in like a puzzle piece.

Step 4: Keep gluing. You're going to have a few moments of "this is NEVER going to end!" Just hang in there. It's worth it! Go refill your coffee at this point. You're going to need it.

Step 5: Once you've got the whole wreath covered, you get to decide how to decorate it. I am a no-fuss, anti-country decor kind of person, so I opted for a simple ribbon to hang mine. However, if the blinged out look floats your boat, then go ahead and add on your goodies. Some of these would work great: ribbon, fabric, leaves, acorns, mini pumpkins or gourds, that harvest corn stuff, etc.

Step 6: Stand back and admire your hard work and try not to think about your sore trigger hand from pumping the hot glue.

Bonus: If you keep it fairly simple for Fall, you can then change the ribbon and add a few Christmas things, and use this baby all way through the new year!