Perfect Pine cones

As avid followers will remember from my conker post way back when, I'm a keen believer in bringing nature into the home to create a eco friendly yet attractive focal point for a room. Last month I had my blue vase conker display and this was all the rage in the land of the porch, but just like the song that goes "for every season turn, turn, turn", my conkers turned and grew fur. This was when I knew it was time to say "Buhbye Cool Conkers, Hello Pretty Pine cones!".

On a recent visit to Daddy-GlitterStitch, myself, Amy and Issobelle collected 2 huuuuuge bags of pine cones, took them home and set to work!

To give your pine cones a sparkly outfit, complete the following instructions (as usual, this is a simple project and you can do it a variety of ways, this is just the way I tackled it):

1. Make a mixture of one part water, one part pva glue and one part gold paint (I use the kiddie friendly kind- my cream carpets prefer it).

2. Hold naked pine cone ready for his new outfit but first- very important- shake it and blow it because Amy nearly died of fright when Mr Spider crawled out and attacked her. Loud screaming ensued and this was not conducive to my little glue-glitter-shake system!

3. With a toothbrush or a washing up brush jobby, roughly coat the cone in the glue mixture.

4. Pass the gluey pine cone to a consenting chum and sprinkle generously with glitter. We opted for gold for a rich feeling but this is obviously a matter of personal choice.

5. Tip of excess glitter and leave to dry.

Et voila! Sparkly gold affordable luxury!

Toodlepip! xx