Learn how to make a flower out of a pine cone. Pine cone flowers add a rustic flair to your decor. They're inexpensive (even free!) and readily available.

Fall is definitely in the air. I love to decorate for Halloween/Fall, but I don't like to spend money to do it. Basically I bring out the same decorations year after year. And sometimes I'll make something new.

This year, as I was pulling everything out, I felt like I wanted to add something new. However, I didn't want to spend any money. I remembered something I had pinned last year and that was my inspiration.

How to Make Pine Cone Flowers

We have 4 pine trees in our yard, so we have an abundance of pine cones. In fact, I've started collecting some for Christmas time. The candles are normally on my piano, I just wanted to dress them up. Everything else I had in my stash.

Update: I've also used this technique to add some pine cone flowers to a fall wreath.

Supplies Needed:

candles
burlap
twine
pinecones
hot glue gun
hand saw

I encourage you to use items you already have. Maybe you don't have twine, but you have some leather cord. Use what you have! Nothing is more satisfying than making something new and creative without spending money.

First cut your burlap to size and wrap tightly around your candle. Secure with hot glue.

Next wrap twine around your candle. I went 5-6 times around. You could hot glue the ends, but I just tucked them under each other.

Cutting the pine cones

Now to make your flowers. Grab a pine cone and cut off the end. This is a LOT more work than I imagined it would be. They are actually made of wood. I don't know why I didn't realize that. :)
You will definitely need a small hand saw. For two of my flowers, I just used the end and hot glued it in place.

Tip: When I used pine cone flowers for my fall wreath, I used a scroll saw to cut off the end piece. It worked so much better and was a lot quicker than using a hand saw.

Then I noticed the tops looked like budding flowers. So I decided to use those parts too.

Start by pulling the pieces of the pine cone down that you don't want.

 Secure tightly with a bit of twine. It will fall apart if you don't.

Cut just under the twine.

 Trim your twine and hot glue to your candle. I left the twine on to keep it secure.

Here they are on my piano.

Have you made any inexpensive fall crafts this year?

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