Monthly Archives

November 2015

Holidays, Tutorials

DIY Pinecone Ornaments

I know it’s still early….but I have begun decorating for Christmas at our house! Last year, we got a real Christmas tree, which I loved having. They smell so good, and they’re so nostalgic I think. The only downside to them is that they don’t come out until early December because they don’t last very long. Which I suppose I can’t be upset about, but I was so impatient this year that we went out and got an artificial tree. I had too many decorating ideas that I couldn’t wait to get started.

So, now that our tree is up, I wanted to share with you a few of the quick projects I did for our tree. If you know me at all, I’m all about finding the cheapest way to do things, and so I created a few different types of ornaments on a shoestring budget. For our tree this year (and all of the decor, really) I wanted to go with a very natural, rustic-y, theme. I had a hard time putting into words exactly what I was going for, even to Ethan. I just kept saying to him, “I want it to look like how the pioneers would decorate a tree if they had one.”

As if that even makes sense.

Anyway, today I’m sharing how I turned regular pinecones  into ornaments for our tree. This is so simple, it’s even kid friendly!

pineconepaint

I painted the edges of several pinecones using some paint I had on hand. The color is Mourning Dove by BEHR. I’ve used it for a lot of projects, and it’s one of my favorite off-white colors. I didn’t worry about painting too neatly, I just kind of quickly brushed on the edges of the pinecones. I wanted to make it look like snow, because, you know, that makes total sense in Texas.

pineconeglue

When that was done, I put a dot of hot glue into the top of the pinecone. I tried to tuck it down inside so that hot glue wasn’t too visible once they were hung on the tree. pineconeornament

I added about a four inch piece of red baker’s twine in a loop to the hot glue. I bought the twine from the Target dollar spot. Can we just give a quick shout out for the Target dollar spot?! I swear, that place is like magic. Anyway, I chose red so it would have a little Christmas-y pop. And when it was done, it looked something like this:

pineconeornament2

This is by no means an original idea, I’m sure it’s been around for ages, but it’s something I whipped up super fast, and I wanted to share with y’all. I don’t have kids, but this could easily be done with little ones…it’s THAT easy. Plus (in my personal opinion), super cute. I’ll be sharing a two other ornament ideas soon, so stay tuned!

I hope you give this one a try! I know I’ll be enjoying them this season.  Well, that’s all for today friends, have a fabulous day!

DIY Pinecone

Home Decor

Sugar Mold Thanksgiving Styling

Can you believe it’s November already? This year is flying by, and I definitely have Christmas on my mind. (Christmas in first grade is a lot of fun, I have to admit). But before we get to Christmas, I have to at least give a little nod to Thanksgiving! I wanted to show you guys a cool piece I found recently and how I am styling it for Thanksgiving.

About a month ago, Ethan and I were shopping at Canton, our favorite place to go. I’ve shared about it before, but it’s a giant flea market in Canton, Texas. It’s one of the country’s oldest remaining flea markets, and it has a range of all sorts of things. Anyway, we were there and I totally had blinders on because I was looking for one specific thing. I don’t know about you, but I can talk myself out of almost any purchase. So I had my money that day, and because I was walking around looking for one particular thing, I didn’t buy anything for several hours. After maybe four hours or so, I realized I wasn’t going to find what I was looking for, and so I went into SHOPZILLA mode. That’s not a thing. I just made that up. What I mean is that after I gave up on that one thing, it was like my eyes were opened to so many more possibilities around me.

One of the things that I picked up that day was this sugar mold. sugar mold 1

I paid fifteen dollars for it, although I had no idea how I was going to use it. I usually don’t buy things unless I have a plan for them, but this one time I broke my own rule. At the time that I purchased it, I didn’t really know what it was either. I know I had seen pictures of similar things on Instagram, but I didn’t know what the official name was or the history behind the pieces.

When I got it home, I didn’t know what to do with it, so I put it in the guest bathroom (arguably the least used room in our house) so i didn’t have to look at it. I was a little overwhelmed with how to use it, so I ignored it. Anyone else do that? No, you probably don’t, because that’s not normal. Anyway, while it was collecting dust in the guest bathroom, I did a little research on it.

Sugar molds started in medieval times and were used throughout the 19th century. Granulated sugar wasn’t really a thing until the 19th century so sugar was poured into these cone shaped molds to be sold. I never knew that, so when I was reading this, I found it super interesting! I’m a history nerd anyway, so random historical facts are totally my jam. The actual wooden mold has deep cone shaped grooves in the center (mine has six), which made it slightly difficult to style for me. While the origins of my piece are unknown to me, it’s becoming one of my favorite things. I’m sure it’s not an authentic antique, but I love it anyway.

When I finally pulled it out and decided to make it pretty, I was kicking myself for not doing it sooner! The little imperfections in the wood have so much character, and the piece is one of the more unique things in our home right now.

sugar mold 4 sugar mold 6 sugar mold 2 sugar mold 5

I used a bit of straw to fill in some of the depth of the molds, and then some fall vase filler. I got the filler items from Hobby Lobby (40% off of course). This little fall look was a quick and easy look to achieve, even though I was dreading it for almost a month! Just in time for Thanksgiving, and then I’ll be transitioning this piece into Christmas with some more festive holiday decor!

Do you have a sugar mold? I would love to hear about how you styled it…because it ha me stumped for a while! That’s it for today friends, I hope y’all have a fabulous day.