These adorable Pine Cone Christmas Trees are the perfect craft project for little kids ages 3-8 years of age. One of the best things about it is that each one only costs a few pennies to make and can be completed in just 1-2 hours depending on paint drying time.
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Go outside for a nature walk to collect small pine cones. Each one needs to be the diameter (at the base) to fit inside a soda bottle or water bottle cap. We used soda bottle caps from 1 and 2 liter bottles in our project.
Preschool Craft Project – Pine Cone Christmas Trees
Natural Pine Cones (small size)
Sequins in Different Colors
Soda Bottle or Water Bottle Plastic Cap
Quick-Drying All Purpose Craft Glue
Green and Brown Acrylic Craft Paint
Paint Brush, Water Dish, Paper Towels
Tips: Kids can be messy painters so I recommend protecting your work surface with an old plastic table cloth, drop cloth, plastic placemats, sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil. They should wear an old t-shirt or crafting apron when working on this project. Keep a pack of moist hand wipes nearby for quick clean-ups.
Start by painting the plastic soda bottle cap a dark brown. Depending on the color of the cap you may need to use 2 coats of paint to get good coverage. Only the outside of the cap needs to be painted.
Paint the pine cones a dark green color. Make sure to get the entire outside of the cone along with a little bit of the inside. You want very little of the natural brown color to show. You may need 2 coats of paint to get the desired coverage. Let dry for about 35-45 minutes or until paint is no longer tacky.
Use all-purpose craft glue to add the colorful sequins. Kids can choose their own colors and add as many as they would like. This will represent ornaments or lights on the tree. Suggest that they top the tree with a yellow sequin to represent a star at the top. You only need a tiny dab of glue for each one.
Squirt a generous amount of glue inside the painted bottle cap. Push the plump end of the pine cone down into the cap as shown in the photograph. Straighten up the tree and let dry for 3-4 hours.
Variations: If you don’t want to use sequins you can use colorful beads, rhinestones, mini pom-poms, charms, etc. to decorate the trees. Have the child sign their name and date on the bottom of the bottle cap with a Sharpie Marker to preserve the memory.
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This craft project is so adorable and one that I know the little ones in the family will so enjoy. Thanks for sharing this one sounds like a great one to do this holiday season.
this is another one for me to add to our to do list. I had my great niece pick up some pine cones one day. And we didn’t get around to them. So I painted them white and the time Zay was her, she and her great grandmother painted them all kinds of colors. I screwed in small I hooks and when dry we added ribbons to hand them. On tue great niece trimmed grandma’s tree and hung the pine cones they painted. We picked up more for next time she is here
Another clever craft. I like how simple and cheap it is.