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Preserving Pinecones For Crafts And Decor

Join me for this easy craft as I share an easy process for preserving pinecones for crafts and decor.  Grab a small bucket and gather fresh pine cones from your yard from pine trees or wooded areas. Nature offers great gifts and it's FREE! In 30-45 minutes to clean and 1-2 hours of drying time to open back up, you will have pinecones to enjoy for years!
Prep Time30 minutes
Active Time5 minutes
Total Time1 day
Keyword: 1-2 hours, 30-45 minutes, air drying, aluminum foil, baking process, clean pine cones, collectpine cones, cookie sheet, cooling rack, craft stores, cupr of white inegar, dish soap, drying time, easy craft, easy process, easy way, fail proof method, female cones, fresh pine cones, holiday seasons, home decor, large baking sheet, paper towels, pesky bugs, pine cone turkey, pine needles, pine trees, small bucket, spray varnish, sticky sap, visible dirt, wooded areas
Yield: 78 pinecones

Equipment

  • 1 large towel
  • 1/4 tsp dish soap and warm water
  • 1 cooling rack
  • 3 baking sheet or cookie sheet depends on how many fresh pinecones you are cleaning and drying.
  • 1 parchment paper parchment paper for each cookie sheet
  • 1 pair of rubber gloves Keep sticky sap from getting on your hands
  • paper towels

Notes

 

Preserving Pinecones for Crafts and Decor

 

Supplies List Preserving Pinecones For Crafts And Decor

      • Pinecones/female cones
      • Soap
      • ​Sink or bucket
      • Cookie sheet
      • ​Paper towels
      • Parchment paper or aluminum foil
      • ​Rubber gloves
      • Large towel - for air drying
      • ​Cooling rack
      • Spray varnish (optional)
 

Step 1: Soak Them In Dish Soap And Warm Water

Place pine cones in the sink with warm water and 1/4 teaspoon of dish soap to clean pine cones from any visible dirt and pine needles. 

After the water and dish soap covers the female cones let them soak for 30-45 minutes. This helps remove pine needles that may have been missed.

In the meantime, place pine cones on a large towel or stack of paper towels to absorb any excess water.

Wear rubber gloves when preserving fresh pine cones, especially from pine trees because of their sticky sap. My gloves are covered in sap.

Cindy's Tip: Wear gloves, it's a must. The sap is sticky and you will wind up like Chevy Chase in the movie Christmas Vacation. Your hands will be sticky for a long time!
 

Step 2: Let Them Dry Completely

 
Air dry pine cones in a single layer on paper towels or a large towel overnight 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. 

Cleaning Pine Cones With White Vinegar

Cindy's Tip: This is another method to clean pine cones- add 1 cup of white vinegar to 2 parts water. This will remove dirt and pesky bugs. I chose warm water and dish soap because my mom used this technique for preserving pinecones. It works like a charm!
air-drying-on-large-towel
 

Step 3: Adding These To The Oven

 

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 78 pinecones.

Place pinecones on the baking sheet or cookie sheet in a single layer for 1-2 hours drying time in the oven. Keep an eye on them depending on the size.

Cindy's Tips: Perfect Preseved Pinecones Keeping Them for Years

As fresh pinecones are going through the baking process, this is when they will open back up. Since they will open back up, leaving room between each one is important. They will get wider from baking. 

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

After the baking process add the pinecones to a cooling rack. I didn't add spray varnish to our pinecones after preserving them. They are still perfect today!
Cindy's Tip: This is another method to clean pine cones- add 1 cup of white vinegar to 2 parts water. This will remove dirt and pesky bugs. I chose warm water and dish soap because my mom used this technique for preserving pinecones. It works like a charm!
 
preserving-pinecones-for-craft-and-decor-on-parchment-paper

 
opened-after-baking
closer-look-inside-crate
 
centerpiece-for-fall-with-nuts-dried-sunflower-heads
 
centerpiece-for-fall-with-nuts-dried-artichokes-acorns-walnut-shell-half-filled-with-dried-lavender
 
preserving-pinecones-for-craft-and-decor-centerpiece-for-christmas-and-winter
Happy Crafting and Happy Fall!