Creating Unique, Natural Fall Decor Is Easy With A Simple Pinecone DIY

If you've been looking for a fall craft to help spruce up your space, try this adorable DIY to get your home ready for fall. By gathering some pinecones, cutting them into sections, and painting them, you can make the cutest, personalized flower arrangement. Though this project is relatively simple, cutting the pinecones may be difficult (due to the thick center stem) and a bit messy. Because of this, you'll need to use strong pruning shears and may want to cut the pinecones outside or over an old cardboard box to catch the pieces that fall. This project will also require hot glue as well as wire to craft your flowers' stems. Once you've made your flowers, sticking them into a vase will brighten up any room. Sand or floral foam and faux moss can hold and hide your stems inside the vase.

For this unique DIY, you use fresh cones from outside, but you should bake your pinecones before decorating with them to get rid of any bugs or bacteria. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, lay the pines on a baking sheet lined with foil, and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Once they're out of the oven and cool, you can begin working with your pinecones to make the cutest fall flowers to enhance your seasonal decor. If this is a bit too involved, or you live in an area without these seed pods, Michaels sells a bag of 10 pinecones for $6.

Depending on how you want your flowers to look, you can cut your pinecone in different ways. For small flowers, trim off the top of the cone, then cut off sections until you're left with a pile of delicate pieces that look like flowers. This is the easiest option. With wider pinecones, cut them in half and peel away a few of the scales for a larger flower. If your pinecone has a rounded bottom with scales that are close together, cut it off to make a ball-type flower.

Once you have your flower pieces, you can paint your flowers. For rustic flowers with a faded or opaque hue, watercolors are a great option. Other types of paint can also be used, but thinning acrylic paint with water can help it get into every crevice of your pinecone scales. Using tones like orange, red, yellow, and white will bring the essence of fall to your flowers, though you could use any color. Additionally, you might leave some of your decorations the natural brown color of your pinecone. Add a dot of another color to the pinecones' stem in the center of the flower for a more natural look. Now, bend the ends of your floral wire (about $13 at Michaels), glue one to the back of each flower, and display them in your vase. This DIY will help you embrace fall decor trends this year and make your home cozy for fall.