Joyful Stars December Blog Hop- Paper Pinecones

Welcome to the Joyful Stars Blog Hop for December.  If you came from Helen's blog you are on the right path.  I am busy working on holiday cards and crafts this month.  I started by making this card box and cards using the Snowhaven Card kit.  I love the fun look of these cards and sayings and I changed them a little from the original design. I embossed the sentiment and frame with silver embossing powder rather than just stamp it with ink. I really like the way the embossing looks especially with the silver shimmer trim.

My next project was inspired by some super cute pinecones I saw on Pinterest.  These pinecones were not real but instead, handmade out of paper!  I found a great tutorial from Catherine Nowak online and went out to buy some necessary supplies.  I used a styrofoam egg, Close To My Heart paper, a lot of sequin pins and some Liquid Glass.   Sequin pins are shorter than a traditional pin and easier to use for this craft.  I started by cutting a sheet of 12x12 paper into 1 inch squares. Fold two of the ends of one square over to meet in the middle so the square now looks like a house.  Pin the bottom of the paper to the styrofoam moving in a circular pattern, layering and overlapping the pieces until the whole styrofoam egg is covered.  At the bottom I used liquid glass instead of pins to secure the last couple pieces of paper so that those last pins would not show.  You will use one 12x12 piece of paper for each pinecone. Here are some of the ones I have made so far.

I also want to try this with ribbon instead of paper. Another neat option is to use different patterns of paper on one pinecone.  Plus you can also attach a loop of ribbon or hook and use them as ornaments on your Christmas tree.  

These pinecones are now one of my new holiday craft traditions.  My only piece of advice is to use a metal thimble to protect your pointer finger because pushing in all of those pins gets a little painful after fifty or so.  But, as with most painful activities, the pain is worth it in the end.  :) 

Now, hop on over to Andrea's blog and continue the hop with us! If you liked my artwork please comment below and check out some of my other posts below. Thanks! 

Happy Crafting!