Sunday, December 23, 2012

Painted Pinecones

Hello, hello!  I have another Christamasy craft to share with you today.  My bff's 4 year old son kindly collected some pinecones for me over the summer on their trips to the park.  I've had them for a little while and knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.  Quite awhile ago, I had watched "Sarah's Holiday Party" with the wonderful Sarah Richardson (and her amazing assistant, Tommy - my bff and I love him.  My bff says she needs someone like him to tell her like it is.  She's a bad decision-maker and item-returner.  But, I digress....).  In the special, they paint pinecones by putting a mixture of paint & water (just a bit of water) in a tupperware container and shake, shake, shaking it like a polaroid picture. The colors she used were great and I wanted to do something similar.  

So, here's my attempt at this project.

First, get your pinecones.

Then, get a plastic container with a good lid on it.  I used this one below.  My sister owns a Thai restaurant in town, so sometimes I bring home soup leftovers in this (I save the containers - I have plans for them and they also come in handy for projects like these).

Next, pour some paint into the container and add a bit of water.  Adding water makes it less "gloppy" as Sarah Richardson says.  But, make sure not to put too much water  - if you do, the color won't be as vibrant and will give it a washed look (this is what happened to the white ones I did - they had more of a white-washed look, which is nice, but not really the look I was going for).

Put your pinecone in the container with the paint, close the lid (make sure it's on tight so it won't leak) and shake it real good.

When the pinecone is covered really well with the paint, take them out of the container.  Sarah Richardson used tongs.  I just used my fingers.  Then, place them on wax paper to dry.
(Sorry for the poor night-time picture)

Here's an example of how the white pinecones came out - see how they have a white-wash look?  Not bad, but not exactly how I wanted it.

And here there are again, all done and displayed.


I wouldn't say it was a project fail because they came out pretty decently.  But, after I re-watched Sarah's holiday special and found the below picture online, I decided that I really like these other colors and the vibrancy of them.  Next year, I'll be re-doing them to look like these.
source
I was trying to use what I had on-hand and not buy any additional supplies, but, I think I'll have to add some of these nice vibrant colors to my stash for little projects like this.

Thanks for stopping by!  This will be the last time I post before Christmas, so have a wonderful holiday!

posted by:  http://adventuresindiy1759.blogspot.com/

Linked up to:
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One Artsy Mama's Shine On Fridays link party

2 comments:

  1. shake it, shake it (woo). those look great (would totally match my house with the blue and white) and i like the simplicity of this. no messing with spray paint.

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  2. This looks like so much fun! I’m so glad you shared it with us on Whimsy Wednesday. We ALWAYS love seeing you here!

    Take care and can’t wait to see what you’ve got going on next time,
    Kelly at Smart! School {House}
    http://www.facebook.com/SmartSchoolHouse?ref=tn_tnmn

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