Monday, July 15, 2013

Jute & Pinecone Flower Tree

  I love crafting at Christmas time.  I saw the cutest pinecone flowers here and had recently been given a bag of pinecones from a friend who's moving.  Need I say more?  I ended up making a jute and pinecone flower tree.  Isn't it adorable? Here's how I made it:

You will need -
  • Styrofoam tree
  • Jute Twine
  • Pinecones
  • Hot glue gun
  • Exacto knife (flat straight edge)
  • Cardboard
  • Gloves (optional)
First, you must wrap the styrofoam tree in jute twine starting at the top with a dab of glue.


You should hot glue the twine every now and then as you wrap, keeping it tight and straight. When you get to the bottom of the tree, cut off the excess twine and glue the end of the twine to the base.  Drape an additional piece of twine around the tree as a placement pattern for the pinecone flowers.

To Make the Pinecone Flowers:

Remove the scales (petals) from the pinecones. The easiest way for me was to start at the base of the cone.  Here the first few rows of scales are easily removed with your fingers.  They come off rather quickly. Once you've gotten these off, it's time to conquer the larger ones.


Using a flat edge exacto knife, wedge and push the tip under the scale and twist and lift. The scale should pop off. It takes practice to get the hang of removing the scales but I found this way a lot better than cutting them off.  I tried cutting with heavy duty shears and the wood split on a lot of them.  *Be careful to keep your fingers and hands away from the knife and there are tiny thorns on the tip you should avoid. Gloves might help.

To create the flower, cut quarter size discs out of cardboard. Next glue the larger pinecone scales on the 3,6,9 and 12 positions (clock) of the cardboard disc. Fill in the remaining areas with more scales.  Use the smaller scales to add dimension to the flower.                                   



Hot glue the completed pinecone flower at the top of the jute twine wrapped tree. Follow the draped twine on the tree as you glue the pinecone flowers in place until you reach the end.

 

I added lights for a more festive holiday look:

 I also placed the tree among some evergreens  .  .  .
Sorry about the blurry photos .  . I think my camera is taking a dive.

Most of all I like the natural and rustic look of the tree with its earthy textures.    Oops . . excuse glue strings.
I'm calling it Rustic Chic!

  
Thanks for stopping by
and take a little time to enjoy,
Happy Holiday Crafting!

               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
          





                                

























21 comments:

  1. I think it's definitely rustic chic Gail! I love it! It looks great with or without the lights.

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  2. I love these kinds of wrapped trees and this is really unique - especially with the lights :-)

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  3. Perfectly natural, the pine cones add a nice touch. I have TONS, I should get started, huh? Following! A

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  4. That is gorgeous, I love the lights but it would be beautiful during the day too, so pretty

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  5. Great project, and it's nice that you could create it with supplies you already had. Love the rustic look. Thanks for the tutorial and thanks for sharing it at Christmas in July.

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  6. Love the natural elements in this! Makes me want to get in Christmas mode already! :)

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  7. Ah Christmas in July crafts!
    Loving the final results and the earthy colors and textures.
    the photos are fine and sometimes my old camera does the same thing.

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  8. Oh I love, love, love this. So pretty and so creative. Thanks tons for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

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  9. Rustic Chic, I like it!

    Thanks for linking up with And Sew We Craft

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  10. Love the rough texture of the tree and the pinecone flowers. this would look great during the fall also. Congrats on your feature for that beautiful shell wreath!

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  11. Love this!! I would love for you to share and link up at my weekly TGIF Link Party if you haven't already this week. Your favorite posts, most popular, recent or new! The party is open every Thursday night and closes Tuesday's at midnight. Followed by (Not SO) Wordless Wednesday! http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/.
    I would be honored if you join us and follow to stay connected Have a wonderful week!
    Hugs, Cathy

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  12. Very pretty! But wow that looks time consuming!! :) Beautiful work.

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  13. This is lovely and so rustic looking, Gail ! Love it :-)

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  14. Love your tree, I had to save it so I can make a couple this winter. Some projects I like to save for when it's not so nice out, helps pass the time. found you thru Give me the good monday from Rain on a tin roof. I really loved how the tree looked with the lights on it. Very cheery. Happy summer.

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  15. So pretty!! Thanks for linking up at Romance on a dime!!

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  16. I love decor that can be used for different occasions! Not overly Christmas-y, and can be used for Christmas and most of the year! Love it!

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  17. This is so pretty! I love how you made the pine cone flowers and can think of so many uses for them. It's great that this decoration can be used year round, too. Thanks for sharing with this week's Throwback Thursday party.

    I shared your post on my FB page if you want to check it out.
    https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaSweetPeaBlog

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  18. Lovely!!! Greetings from Greece!

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  19. I love how it looks with lights one, I will try it out sometime thanks for posting

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