At first glance, it is not obvious what diverse talents lie behind pine cones. We invite you to take a stroll through the fascinating world of woody-brown natural treasures from the coniferous forest. Worth knowing information about identification features, types of cones, the right collection at the best time and imaginative uses are waiting to be explored by you.

Pine cones are not as good for crafting as other cones

Table of Contents

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  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Pine cones worth knowing
  3. pine cone use
  4. Craft ideas with pine cones
  5. Gnomes made of pine cones
  6. Pine cone decorating tips
  7. Make bird seed cones yourself
  8. Fir tree from seeds
  9. Cone Types Differences
  10. Pine cone jam recipe
  11. frequently asked Questions

    12. the essentials in brief

    • Pine cones stand vertically on the branch where they decay and release winged seeds.
    • Intact cones on the forest floor are not pine cones, but come from spruce, pine, larch or Douglas fir.
    • With pine cones you can do handicrafts, decorate, grow new fir trees, make bird seed cones, fuel and jam.

    Pine cones - interesting and amazing facts

    Real pine cones stand upright on the branches

    Pine cones are female spike-like inflorescences whose scale-like bracts spiral around an axis and slowly become woody. The male counterpart is smaller, does not become woody and falls off after flowering, so it is not a pinecone in the traditional sense. Even this short explanation of the term makes you sit up and take notice and arouses curiosity for further information about a true treasure of nature. We invite you to accompany the development of a pine cone through the seasons:

    • late winter: male flower buds on underside of shoots, female flower buds on top of shoots
    • spring: at the age of 30, the fir unfolds its blossoms for the first time
    • heyday: April to June with yellowish, 2-2.5 cm male flowers, cylindrical, not woody
    • pollination: Wind transfer of male pollen to female upright pine cones
    • wilt: in summer wilting of the male flowers, which wither and decay on the branch
    • Cone Maturity: female pine cones from May/June, 10-16 cm long, woody with scales and winged seeds
    • sowing: from September detachment of lignified scales, seed eruption, decay of the cones on the tree

    This curriculum vitae of Fir Cones makes no claim to scientific completeness. Rather, the abridged version takes a look at the fascinating process from the bud to the mature female pine cone, which literally tears itself apart so that the winged offspring can find their way to the forest floor. The sad remainder on the tree is a woody cone spindle, which usually only falls off the fir branch after a few years.

    Collect pine cones - tip for the season

    The history of pine cones above reveals that you cannot collect intact pine cones on the forest floor. What covers the ground in autumn are mostly the cones of pine, spruce and other native conifers. You don't have to bend your knees to collect authentic, intact pine cones, you have to stretch. From late August/early September, keep an eye out in the woods for upright, greenish-brown pine cones perched on the tops of coniferous branches. Ideally, have bypass scissors with you to snip off a nice tenon.

    Use pine cones - collection of ideas

    The interest of children and young people should not be limited to the fact that pine cones mean fir cone in English. In fact, the woody reproductive organs of conifers surprise with a colorful variety of creative, natural and useful uses for every age group. Let these ideas inspire you to come up with an apt answer to the question: what can you do with pine cones?

    pine cone use idea
    Handcraft Advent and Christmas decorations
    deco Decorate balcony boxes
    birdseed Cones instead of fat balls
    grow fir Harvest and sow seeds
    fuel Pine cones as a fireplace lighter

    An exotic use of pine cones is practiced in Siberia. In the cold north of Russia, the cones of fir and pine trees are traditionally used to make jam, cone honey, tea and high-proof throat cleaners.

    Crafts with pine cones - ideas

    All sorts of things can be made from cones

    Tinkering with pine cones in Advent is great fun for the whole family. When it's stormy and snowing outside, young and old gather at the kitchen table to create their own cones together in a cozy atmosphere or to design some of the following craft ideas:

    • Make an Advent wreath or mini Christmas tree out of cones
    • Drill the cones with a Forstner bit to make room for a tealight
    • Spray paint the pine cones, arrange them as a winter landscape on a wooden board with a chain of lights, cotton wool and hot glue
    • Glue the cones in a circle, set the stage with ribbons, beads, balls and similar decorative material as a door wreath
    • Decorate the large cone with acrylic paint, attach the silk ribbon with hot glue and use it as a Christmas tree pendant
    • Assemble 4-6 pine cones as a star with hot glue, decorate with acorns, dried flowers or pearls

    Making figures out of pine cones also inspires the smartphone generation for creative work beyond the virtual world. The range of imaginative possibilities extends from animals such as hedgehogs, owls or penguins to fairy tale characters such as Pumuckl and Peter Pan. The following section, with comprehensible step-by-step instructions, explains how you can easily make a gnome out of pine cones with your children.

    tips

    Collect soiled cones from the forest floor, remove moss, soil and other coarse dirt with tweezers or a brush. To clean, soak the pine cones in a solution of 2 parts water and 1 part vinegar for 20 minutes. Dry the wet and clean cones on a baking tray in the oven at 90° to 100° Celsius under constant supervision. By drying in the oven, you can open the closed pine cones at the same time.

    Make pixies out of pine cones - instructions

    Making a gnome out of pine cones is one of the classics for long autumn and winter evenings when the television, computer and cell phone need a break. The following instructions explain step by step how fir, spruce or pine cones are transformed into funny hanging gnomes, complete with pointed hat and bushy beard:

    Making cone gnomes is a must during the cold season

    material requirements

    • Cones of fir, pine or spruce
    • Felt, burgundy, dark green, orange, each 95 cm wide, 30 cm long and 0.9 cm thick
    • Pom-poms, light brown, 4-25mm thick
    • Scatter parts made of felt, e.g. B. colorful autumn leaves
    • Plush fabric or faux fur light grey, 150 cm wide, 30 cm long, 10 mm high
    • cord, e.g. B. 1 roll of natural fiber cord, 1.5 mm thick, 80 m long
    • Sewing thread, red, green, orange
    • craft scissors
    • Sewing needles or large darning needles
    • Glue gun and hot glue
    • Chenille wire, 14 mm x 50 cm

    You will also need pen and paper to draw a template for the gnome pointed hat.

    Step-by-step instructions

    Please carefully select the loveliest, undamaged cones that are destined for a second life as a hanging gnome. There is no reason not to use pine, pine and spruce cones of different sizes. These instructions can be adapted to any desired gnome size and number.

    1. Transfer the template of the pointed hat to the felt with a pen and cut out
    2. Adjust the hat pattern to a pin, fold and sew or glue together along the two edges
    3. Push the chenille wire under the hat and create a rustic pointed shape
    4. Cut the plush fabric into rectangles with scissors (e.g. 5 cm x 4 cm)
    5. Cut a small recess in the middle for the nose, bevel the side edges slightly
    6. Put the cone on the tip and glue the bushy beard to the upper edge
    7. Glue the pompom into the recess as a nose
    8. Put on the elf hat so that the upper edge of the beard is covered and glue it in place
    9. Decorate the pointed cap with glued-on felt leaves

    Finally, the cone gnomes receive a hanger. Thread the cord into a large sewing needle and pull both through the top of the pointed hat past the stabilizing chenille wire. Got some pom poms and felt sheets left over? Then thread this onto the cord as additional decoration. Now just tie the hanging cord and hang the cute pixies made of pine cones on the Christmas tree.

    Pine cones as a balcony decoration - tips & tricks

    The first pine cones are ripe just in time for the start of the autumn season. Anyone who wanders through the forest with open eyes from the end of August can collect the cones from the branches before they disintegrate into their individual parts. The cones of spruce, pine, Douglas fir and larch are ready to be picked up on the forest floor, at the latest after the first autumn storms. Regardless of which coniferous tree the cones come from, they can be used perfectly for creative decoration ideas on the autumnal balcony. The following variations may inspire your imagination:

    • Attach pine cones and fairy lights to branches of the corkscrew willow and arrange in a deep, frost-resistant bucket
    • Fill terracotta flower pots with coconut soil, put large pine cones in them and surround them with moss
    • Plant the winter-hardy window box, creatively arrange pine cones, gnomes, colorful balls, fairy lights
    • Cover the balcony table with a jute sack (€10.99) fir green, pine cones and lantern, spray thickly with artificial snow

    In autumn, empty baskets, glass vases and glass bowls are just waiting for you to return home from the forest with a bulging bag. In combination with fairy lights, Christmas baubles and needle branches, you can conjure up a romantic decoration for the Advent and Christmas season. If you use LED fairy lights with battery operation, you can set up the decorative eye-catchers even if there is no socket nearby.

    Make bird seed yourself from pine cones

    Pine cones make excellent bird feeders

    The classic fat ball lacks decorative charm. By making wintry bird seed yourself with pine cones, you serve hungry birdies a richly set table and at the same time beautify the empty garden and balcony. These instructions explain in detail how you can easily make bird seed cones yourself:

    materials and ingredients

    • cones
    • colorful ribbons as hangers
    • Felt sheets as decoration
    • Hot glue gun and hot glue
    • 1 kg fat, ideally beef tallow from the butcher or coconut fat
    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    • 1 kg seed mixture for wild birds
    • optionally red rose hips and raisins
    • Saucepan, mixing spoon, teaspoon

    Pine cones, which you can pick up from the forest floor with your scales wide open, are excellent. Cut ripe, brown pine cones from the branch when they are closed. To open, bring pine cones to a dry, airy place where the process can take up to 50 hours. The closed scales open faster in the oven at 90° top and bottom heat.

    manual

    1. Glue the hanger to the lower end of the pin, decoratively cover the glued area with a piece of felt
    2. Melt the fat in the saucepan (please do not let it boil)
    3. Remove cauldron from fire and stir in vegetable oil
    4. Fold in grain feed
    5. Allow the feed mixture to cool down until it is spreadable
    6. Use a teaspoon to fill the gaps between the cones
    7. Squeeze rose hips

    After a few hours, the bird seed cones are hardened and ready to be used as a dangling buffet for hungry bird beaks to feast on.

    digression

    Buy pine cones

    Collecting pine cones is not an untroubled outdoor pleasure when autumn comes along with wet and cold weather instead of Indian summer. That's no reason to cross the pine cone craft project off your to-do list. You can buy magnificent, clean pine cones. Recommended and cheap shopping sources are local garden centers and tree nurseries as well as online shops from Amazon, Obi, Ebay or specialist suppliers of handicraft materials. The prices for 100 grams (e.g. 20 large pine cones or 80 larch cones) range between 2.99 and 5.30 euros. The giants among the cones of the sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) with an impressive length of 25 cm and a weight of 400 g cost 12 euros.

    Grow tree from pine cone seeds

    It is quite possible to grow new fir trees from the seeds in the cones

    Hobby gardeners see pine cones differently than friends of handicrafts and decoration. From their point of view, the green-brown cones are primarily a source of viable seeds from which a new fir tree will grow. Although the sowing and cultivation of coniferous trees is a challenge for home gardeners, the masterpiece can succeed. First you need to get the pine cones to open so they release their precious seeds. The following guide sums up how to proceed further:

    1. best time is in autumn
    2. Collect pine cones, put them on a plate and bring them to the sunny, warm south-facing window to open
    3. Harvest the seeds, clean them under running water in a fine sieve and snap off the wings
    4. Soak in water or chamomile tea for 24 hours
    5. Fill the pot with unfertilized coconut soil
    6. soaked seeds mix with fine sand and sow
    7. Sieve the seed thinly (0.5 cm) with sand or coconut soil and press down
    8. pour on with a fine shower
    9. set up in a partially shaded location outside

    Direct sowing is possible during the months of October to December provided the ground is not frozen. A particular advantage of sowing outdoors is the associated natural stratification. Pinecone seeds need a cold stimulus to start the germination process. For this reason, a location in the open air is advisable for seed containers, for example on the balcony or terrace.

    care until planting

    Ideally, a thick layer of snow serves as a water dispenser. If there is no snow, please water the seed regularly. Drought stress is the most common cause of a high failure rate. Under ideal conditions, you can look forward to the first fir seedlings within 6 to 12 weeks. After successful stratification, bring the seed pots indoors, where growth will take its natural course in the partially shaded, warm window seat.

    Fir trees take it easy with height growth. Water the seedlings during drought and do not apply fertilizer at first. If your pupils have completely rooted the pot, repot the trees. Use coir soil that you have enriched with liquid conifer fertilizer. In the following three to four years, care consists of watering, fertilizing and repotting. With a growth height of about 15 centimeters, plant the young trees in a semi-shady location with fresh, moist and nutrient-rich soil.

    Identify cone types - accurately distinguish between pine cones

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    When there are cones on the forest floor, identification becomes a guessing game. Especially when the site is surrounded by different species of conifers, the exact origin is difficult to trace. If, on the other hand, you know the distinctive properties of cones, you can draw well-founded conclusions as to which tree gave you the treasures. The following table lists important identifying features of six native cone species so that you can accurately distinguish between pine cones in the future:

    pinecone spruce cones black pine larch douglas fir Scots pine
    length 10-16cm 10-18cm 3.5-12cm 2-6 cm 2-5 cm 3-8 cm
    broad 3-4 cm 3-5 cm 2-4.5cm 1-2 cm 2-3 cm 3-5 cm
    color in autumn greenish Brown light brown/yellow brown light brown reddish brown/brown dark brown/black
    hanging/standing/horizontal standing hanging horizontal standing hanging horizontal
    Feature cone scales fan shaped smooth edges hidden parts black wavy scale edges elongated like an awn far off
    condition on forest floor decay as a whole as a whole as a whole as a whole as a whole

    Therefore, if you find intact cones on the forest floor, they are almost certainly spruce or pine cones. You can only collect intact, large pine cones directly from the tree, where they are enthroned on the branches. When pine cones fall from the tree, they are already in the process of dissolving to make way for their winged seeds.

    Pine cone jam - recipe for those with a sweet tooth

    Got some fir or pine cones left? Then dare a culinary journey of discovery with pine cone jam. You can conjure up a furious jam from 2 kilograms of cones, which will cause a stir even in the jar. In addition to the cones of fir, pine or larch, the delicious spread can also be made with the spruce cones that are ubiquitous in the forest. The following recipe explains how to do it:

    1. Wash fir or pine cones
    2. Boil in boiling water for 30 minutes
    3. let stand in dark, cold place over 12 hours
    4. Remove the cones from the water with a ladle and set aside
    5. Add 1 kg of sugar to the water and bring to the boil, stirring constantly

    The jam stock is ready when it thickens and turns purple. Now take clean one-litre jam jars with screw caps. In each jar put 6 to 8 of the cooked pine cones. Pour the hot liquid over the cones, tighten the screw cap and leave the glasses upside down to cool.

    frequently asked Questions

    When do pine cones fall from the tree?

    Pine cones never fall from the tree in one piece. When a fir tree's cones are ripe, they open, releasing the winged seeds into the wild. During this process, pine cones lose their woody scales and fall apart. Only the woody central axis remains on the branch, which only falls off after a few years. For this reason, you can never collect intact pine cones from the forest floor for handicrafts or as decoration. Beautiful, undamaged cones that you discover on the ground in the forest usually come from spruce, pine or larch.

    What is the difference between pine cones and spruce cones?

    The clear difference is the position of the cones on the tree. Pine cones stand upright on the tops of stout coniferous branches. Spruce cones hang down from the shoot. Another difference to note is that pine cones stay on the tree, where they break down into their component parts. Spruce cones fall in one piece to the forest floor in autumn.

    Are pine cones suitable as fuel for fireplaces and stoves?

    In fact, you can use pine cones as fuel. Cones from spruce, pine, larch and other conifers can also be used to fuel fireplaces and stoves. In view of the small amount that comes together even with diligent collecting, we recommend the use of pine cones as natural firelighters for free. You can make your own pine cone lighters by wrapping a dry cone with twine to use as a fuse. Then wrap half of the cone in old newspaper, place it in a muffin tin, pour melted candle wax over it and let it cool.

    I want to draw pine cones with my elementary school child. Are there child-friendly templates to copy?

    Drawing a pine cone freehand is an artistic challenge, even for gifted adults. Free-Coloring-Books.com has a varied selection of templates so that your child of primary school age can draw a beautiful pine cone. Etsy and Amazon have reusable stencils for wall decor or pine cone crafts.

    We want to collect pine cones that are as large as possible. Which tree has the largest cones for crafting and decorating?

    The term pine cones is a synonym for the cones of all conifers. If you collect large pine cones for crafting, keep an eye out for spruce and pine. Their cones are 16 to 18 cm long and fall onto the forest floor as an intact unit suitable for handicrafts. Pine cones, on the other hand, stay on the tree to the bitter end, where they fall apart. The titans in the kingdom of the pine cones are up to 40 centimeters long and come from the sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) from California. You can buy the magnificent specimens on the Internet, for example on Amazon or Ebay.

    tips

    If you like crafting with pine cones, please don't cut off the whole branch when collecting. It is gentler on the tree if you pick or clip off the ripe cones. As conifers, firs are extremely sensitive to pruning. If you would like to use a needle branch including a pine cone as decoration, please use the scissors in the green needled shoot area. Under this condition, the fir can close the resulting gap over the years.

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