As autumn shares warm hues and cool breezes fill the air, fall gracefully brings joy by adding natural elements to our homes. It’s during this season that we find ourselves drawn to nature, embracing one of its best gifts, fresh pine cones. Today, we invite you to join this journey as I share an easy process for cleaning and preserving pinecones DIY card. Grab a small bucket and gather fresh pinecones in your own yard or wooded areas from fresh pine trees.

With this easy process, you can unlock the full potential of fresh pine cones, that will grace your home for years to come.

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Reasons To Collect Pine Cones

1. Pinecone Elegance: Embark on a journey of an easy craft and the best craft for decorating with nature’s treasures. Let your creativity inspire you to bring the beauty of the outdoors into your living spaces.
2. Create Lasting Memories with Loved Ones: Involve your children, grandchildren, or friends to preserve the pinecone process. Spend time together while crafting ornaments, wreaths, or potpourri. Pass on the tradition of nature’s gifts and create a heartfelt decor that has a personal touch.
3. Explore Endless Possibilities: Fresh pine cones are just the beginning of your natural crafting. Discover more creative ideas using nuts, bare branches, and acorns. Add the warmth and beauty of handmade, nature-inspired to add the charm and beauty of nature to your home.

Living beside neighbors with pine trees, I was thrilled when they approached me with an offer. Aware of my love for decorating and creating, they asked if I would be interested in the pinecones that had recently fallen. Without hesitation, I enthusiastically accepted their generous proposal. Little did I anticipate the abundance that awaited me as we collected armfuls of these natural wonders.

Now, with a large number of pinecones for our home, I’ve embarked on a quest to preserve their rustic charm while also ensuring their cleanliness.

Collect These For Home Decor And More

1. Embrace Nature’s Gifts: Start preserving your own pine cones and bring the rustic charm of the outdoors into your living spaces. Follow our easy guide to cleaning and preserving pine cones, and let your creativity flow as you incorporate them into your seasonal decor.
2. Share Your Creations: We’d love to see how you’ve transformed your pinecones into decorations!
3. Spend Time With Family: Involve your children or grandchildren in the pinecone preservation process. It’s a wonderful opportunity to pass on the tradition of appreciating nature’s treasures and creating beautiful décor. Spend quality time together while crafting ornaments, wreaths, or potpourri.
4. Gifts from the Heart: Consider crafting unique and personalized gifts using your preserved pinecones. Whether it’s a homemade ornament for a friend, a scented potpourri for a loved one, or a nature-inspired centerpiece for a special occasion, your creations will carry a heartfelt touch that can’t be found in store-bought items.
5. Explore More Natural Crafts: Pinecones are just the beginning of your creative journey with nature. Explore other crafting ideas using natural materials like leaves, twigs, and acorns. Fill your home with the warmth and beauty that only handmade, nature-inspired creations can bring.

Why Clean And Preserve Pine Cones?

What Can I Do With Fresh Pine Cones?

Pinecones are versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. Here are some ideas:

• Decorate with them: Pinecones can add a natural and rustic touch to your home decor. Place them in a bowl, vase, or tray as a centerpiece. Add dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, acorns, and fall foliage from the craft store or the backyard. (See My Tip Below) Add them to wreaths, garlands, and other seasonal decorations.
• Create a scented potpourri: Pinecones can be used to create a fragrant potpourri. You can add essential oils, cinnamon sticks, and dried orange slices, walnuts in the shell, sprigs from pine trees to the pinecones for a natural and fragrant touch.
• Use them in DIY projects: Pinecones can be used in various DIY projects. You can make bird feeders by covering them with peanut butter and birdseed, or create ornaments by painting them and adding glitter or other embellishments.
• Use them as fire starters: Pinecones can be used as kindling for your fireplace or outdoor fire pit.
• Make pinecone crafts: Pinecones can be used to create a variety of crafts, such as a pine cone turkey (remember making these in school?), pinecone wreaths, ornaments, and pinecone garlands.

These are just a few ideas for what you can do with pinecones. With a little creativity, there are many ways to incorporate pinecones into your home decor and DIY projects.

Why Use Ites From The Grocery Store?

Use Items In Home Decor From The Grocery Store

I absolutely love using natural elements in our home decor for fall and the holiday seasons.

• It’s budget-friendly
• Nuts, dried oranges, apples, and pears to name a few add color and speak volumes for the cooler months ahead.

Scatter pieces from nature around centerpieces and add them to bowls and vignettes. Be careful loved ones may steal your props to enjoy for themselves as a snack.

If you have been following Cloches & Lavender you are aware I enjoy decorating with natural elements in our home. Especially for the fall and holiday seasons so sharing how to preserve pinecones is a must.

If you can’t save acorns this is a great shop to purchase them already finished. However, these are free in parks and the yard, and saving these acorns is faster than the pinecones so it is worth the effort.

Have Acorns? Here’s An Easy Way To Save Them For Years

Saving Acorns For Home Decor

You will love this easy process where I share how to preserve real acorns for years. Here I share my love of acorns. I have a collection of hundreds and I share how to clean and preserve these fall gems. My collection has been going on for 20 years now. So, it should be no surprise I’d share how to preserve pinecones.

If you have acorns scattered across your yard, driveway, or wooded areas don’t let them go to waste! Instead, seize the opportunity to preserve these little tokens of fall for years to come. In this post, I want to share my obsession and affection for acorns and tell you a method to clean and preserve them that has served me well.

Discover Why To Dry Oranges

Drying Oranges: Nature’s Magic For The Home

Discover the beauty of dried oranges, another easy process addition to add to home decor for many holiday seasons. Dried oranges not only serve as beautiful Christmas ornaments but they blend seamlessly with pinecones and the other natural elements mentioned in this blog post. 

Tip: Hot glue pieces of evergreen, pine trees, cinnamon sticks for a rustic and natural look. Thread twine through the small hole and you have a pretty ornament to hang on your Christmas tree.

Allow me to introduce you to my collection and hundreds of acorns that I’ve gathered and carefully preserved for nearly two decades. It’s a testament to these gifts from nature and their timeless beauty and charm. As you explore my home tours during the autumn and holiday seasons, you’ll catch glimpses of my assortment of preserved acorns and pinecones, each adding a touch of nature to our home decor.

In addition to acorns, I love incorporating other natural elements for the holiday seasons, such as walnuts and dried artichokes.

Bonus: Learn how to save acorns too. It’s so simple to do and these are gems from nature and look beautiful in any home decor for fall throughout Christmas! I share all the details you need for this easy process.

Discover Why To Dry Oranges

Discover the beauty of dried oranges, another easy process addition to add to home decor for many holiday seasons. Dried oranges not only serve as beautiful Christmas ornaments but they blend seamlessly with pinecones and the other natural elements mentioned in this blog post. 

See the baking process for dried orange slices and clementine.  I also share how to use dried oranges when decorating the home seasonally.

Clean Pine Cones A Fail Proof Method

Step 1: Soak Them In Dish Soap And Warm Water

The first step, place pine cones in the sink with warm water and 1/4 teaspoon of dish soap to get fresh pine cones clean from any visible dirt and pine needles. 

After the soapy water covers the female cones let them soak for 30-45 minutes, this begins the cleaning and preserving process.

In the meantime, make certain you have a large towel and plenty of paper towels on hand to absorb any excess water released from the pinecones.

Tip: Wear rubber gloves when preserving fresh pinecones, especially from pine trees because of their sticky sap. My gloves are covered in sticky sap. It reminded me of the movie Christmas Vacation.

Cleaning Pine Cones With White Vinegar

Tip: This is another method for cleaning pine cones- add 1 cup of white vinegar to 2 parts water. This will remove pesky bugs. I chose warm water and dish soap because my mom used this technique for preserving pinecones.

Fresh Pine Cones Air Drying

Step 2: Let Them Dry Completely

Air dry pine cones overnight or for several hours.  We did this easy process in the early evening. Make sure to turn them on the other sides of the cone to finish air drying. 

Add To The Oven For The Baking Process

Step 3: Fresh Pine Cones Reopening Magic

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Next, use a baking sheet or cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil before adding the fresh pine cones for the baking process. I used a large baking sheet for each set of pinecones for a total of 78 pinecones.

Place pinecones on the baking sheet in a single layer for 1-2 hours drying time in the oven. Keep an eye on them depending on the size of the pinecones so they don’t burn.

Tip: We advise beginning slowly with the first sheet for the drying time. For our first baking sheet, we set the timer for 15 minutes. We didn’t want the pinecones to burn. So, to be on the safe side, we wanted to see how the preserving process was going to work. Remember, every oven is different.

As fresh pinecones are going through the baking process, this is when they will open back up. Since the pinecones are going to reopen, it’s important to leave room in between each one to account for them getting wider during the baking process. 

This process is also important to get rid of pesky bugs and this is when the sticky sap gets removed from the fresh pine cones.

​After the baking sheet of pinecones from the oven, we added parchment paper to a cooling rack. Let them cool as the next baking sheet of the fresh pinecones is in the oven.

We didn’t feel it was necessary to add spray varnish. We love the natural look of the pinecones. Spraying them is optional so you decide what works best for your home.

If you don’t want to preserve pinecones, purchase them here on Amazon or they can be found at any craft store.

*As an Amazon Associate, Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint, and other Affiliates I earn from qualifying purchases* As an Amazon Associate and Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint and other Affiliates, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases through affiliate links. links. There’s no extra charge to you. All opinions are my own 

Here, you can see the preserved pinecones I added to an antique French crate for a natural touch. 

I hope you found this an easy way of cleaning and preserving pinecones informative. Consider giving it a try to enhance your holiday seasons and winter with the beauty of natural elements.

As mentioned earlier, pinecones complement any decorating style, making them a versatile choice for any easy craft project and to add to your home decor. Whether you’re crafting wreaths, ornaments, centerpieces, or exploring other possibilities, pinecones work exceptionally well, adding a touch of natural elegance to your home decor.

Do you enjoy decorating with pieces found outside too? Do you collect pinecones and/or acorns too? As I said many times pieces found in nature are the best because they are free! Will you use pinecones in your home decor? Share your creative ideas with us!

A FEW OF MY FAVORITES!