I love holiday decorations just as much as the next person but I’m particular about the ones I actually put up in our house. I prefer to make my own decorations and need them to be cat friendly. My biggest requirement though is that, no matter what they are, the decorations have to be able to stay out for a few months. I can’t stand storing and putting up decorations that can only stay out for 2 weeks. I love using items from nature for this reason – leaves, pumpkins, acorns, and, in this example, pinecones. These lovely golden pinecones are perfect for Fall, a great Thanksgiving decoration, and can stay out until Christmas since they are sparkly and festive.
I picked up this bag of treated pinecones from the craft store along with some glitter spray and heavy duty glue (which I didn’t end up needing but was glad to have on hand). Treated pinecones aren’t as fun as foraging your own but are fully dried out and won’t grow any mold. You’ll also need something to hang the garland. I bought this wonderful natural cotton Habu yarn in Salem and thought it would be perfect for this project.
Before spray painting make sure you are outside (or in a well ventilated area) and have covered the surface you’ll be painting on with a drop cloth.
Spray liberally with the glitter spray and allow the pinecones to dry between coats. I ended up doing 3 coats on these guys and used up the whole can doing so.
When the pinecones have fully dried (this took about 2 hours for me), you’re ready to string up the garland. Cover your workspace with another drop cloth (or just a paper bag like I did) to avoid getting glitter everywhere. I measured the window I was going to hang the garland in, cut the yarn to that length, and marked the center point of the yarn. I wanted to start in the center to make sure the pinecones were spaced evenly.
Tying a tight knot around the center of the pinecone worked perfectly. I found an easy way to do this – I made a loose knot with the yarn and then slipped it over the top of the pinecone and tightened.
I made a small loop on each end of the garland, hammered two small nails at the top of the window frame, and hooked the garland up by these loops.
It was hard to take a great picture of the finished garland in the window because it was super bright at the time of day when I was taking them. I hope you get the idea!
The glitter is really pretty; subtle but really festive and warm.
I had a few pinecones left over so I just put them in this candle dish we’ve been using as a centerpiece on the dining room table.
Domestocrat 
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