Next time you're hiking in the woods or walking through your neighborhood, collect a few pine cones to use in making this pine cone wreath.
Here's what you'll need: pipe cleaners, 10 to 15 round pine cones, a pencil, a large sheet of cardboard, a large plate and a salad plate, green poster paint, a paper punch, some spare yarn or ribbon, and finally some string.
To get started, take your pipe cleaners and wrap one around the last ring of scales on the bottom of each pine cone, leaving one end longer than the other.
Next, make the base of your wreath. Draw a large circle on the sheet of cardboard with a large dinner plate. Make a smaller circle inside the larger one with the salad plate. Cut the larger circle from the cardboard and then the smaller circle from the larger one so that you've made a ring. You should have a piece of cardboard the shape of a wreath.
Now, if you want, paint the cardboard green or any color you like with poster paint. After the paint dries, it's time to add the pine cones. Punch a hole in the center of your cardboard ring. It's time to start adding the pine cones.
Take one of your pine cones and put the pipe cleaner ends through the hole and then line-up your next pine cone to find out where the next hole should be punched. After you've made the second hole, stick the pipe cleaner for the second pine cone through the hole.
If you turn over the wreath you should have two sets of pipe cleaners. Twist the pipe cleaner ends of the first and second cones together to secure them to the ring. Continue this process until the whole wreath is covered with pine cones and they are all secured.
No wreath is ever complete without a bow, so add that next. Make a nice bow from spare ribbon or yarn. Use a pipe cleaner that looks good with the bow and attach it to the wreath the same way you did the pine cones.
Now the only thing missing is a way to hang it. Take a 12-15" piece of string and tie the ends together. Wrap part of the loop you just made under the bottom of the top-most pine cone and use the rest of the loop as a hanger.
And, that's it. You're ready to hang it up.