Hi Everyone!  I feel so out of touch.  It’s been ages since my last blog post and I miss it so much.  I love this blog and I love sharing all the wonderful artsy fartsy things we do all the time.  My challenge, like pretty much every mom, is time.  My art classes have taken off (thank you thank you thank you so blessed thank you) and I’ve found that come 7:45 pm, the minute my girls are asleep,  I pretty much want to get straight into bed.  BUT, these nature craft wall hangings are just too special so I am forcing myself to stay up and share the tutorial with all of you.

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Nature wall hangings are really easy and inexpensive and pretty quick to make.  I especially love them because you can have them out from Thanksgiving to Christmas and they totally work with the season.

Here’s what you’ll need…

Materials

pinecones (I bought the scented pinecones because I couldn’t find any pinecones near my house and I wanted to make life easy and they smell really good.  If you have pinecones by you, I recommend a nature hunt to kick this project off.)

tempera paints (click here to read how we do paint mixing with kids from the primary colors)

brushes (have you tried these ikea ones yet?  They are my new faves. I love the size and the bristles.  Really great!

wire (floral wire works great – 22 gauge or something stronger from the hardware store.  You can also use extra long pipe cleaners.)

glitter shakers (always glitter)

beads (I love these wood beads.  I like this bulk bag since we always seem to have use for them.)

washi tape

Here are the simple steps.

Step 1.

Paint the pinecones.  In retrospect, I really wish we rolled the pinecones in a box filled with paint, especially with the little little ones, but painting them regular style works great too.  Look at this great concentration.  Sorry for the pic overload by the way.  These kids are just too cute and with my limited blog posts lately I went a little overboard.

Step 2.

Place the painted pinecone in a bowl or on a plate (still with wet paint) and sprinkle on some glitter.  Let dry.

Step 3.

Cut a piece of wire about 2 feet long and turn one side in to make a stopper for the beads.  Invite your child to fill up the wire with beads about 3 quarters of the way. You’ll need some room to make the heart at the top.

Step 4.

Make a circle with the wire after the beads and twist the end to the wire close to the last bead on the top.  Then, with your finger, push down in the middle of the circle forming a heart shape.  Due to time restraints I did this part for most of the kids.

Step 5.

An adult can wrap the wire under the beads through some grooves on the top of the pinecone.

*Optional* but a really nice touch, is to write what your child is thankful for on the washi tape above the beads.  The washi is just folded over the wire to write names, as well as cover the twisted wire.

I hung up all the nature craft wall hangings from art class on our wall for some pics and when my daughter came in and saw them this was her reaction.  Pretty priceless.  I’m pretty sure she squealed.

She was totally mesmerized by them and wanted to know who did each one.I just love them too and I love the idea of hanging them on a doorknob, a hook or your christmas tree as a timeless ornament.

So that’s how you make them.  If you like these nature craft wall hangings you might like some other activities we’ve done for the holidays, like these gratitude boxes and these shadow box family ornaments.  They are both really sweet and I love crafting with recycled boxes.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving.  With so much happening in the world that seems unforgivable, let’s focus on the people in our lives who love us and love them right back. xo, Meri