How to Make a Spring Wreath
I am so excited to share today a spring wreath I made from pinecones. You can make this wreath with Items you pick up in your yard.
Pinecone flowers? Yes, these flowers are made by cutting pinecones into flowers! Today I will show you step by step how I made this gorgeous spring wreath.
This might be my favorite wreath that I have ever made. I called it a spring wreath, but it can also be a fall wreath! The best thing is that most of you can make it from things you can gather in your backyard. Can you guess what this wreath is made from?
Pinecone Flowers
I know it’s hard to believe. Because pine cones have never looked so good. This DIY was amazing and I love that it looks so great for Spring and Fall. I kind of made it up as I went along but I think you will find the DIY below fairly easy. The only hard part was cutting the pine cones.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to see my DIY video.
What You Need to Make a Pinecone Wreath
**All items with links are listed below**
Pine cones (about 18)
Grapevine wreath (I used a 16″)
Acrylic paint (alizarin crimson, medium yellow, white)
Tin snips or gardening shears
Glue gun
Assorted greenery (eucalyptus)
How to Make a Spring or Fall Wreath
Cutting the pine cones into flowers is the hardest part of making this wreath. I used a pair of red tin snips which didn’t work too great but I found a set of garden snips when I was almost done with the cutting that worked very well. (They are linked below.)
I was able to cut two flowers out of each pine cone and I didn’t use the top part.
I had to cut around each side of the pinecone before I could cut all the way through. On a few occasions, the pinecone flower broke into a few pieces. But that was no problem as I just put them back together with a glue gun.
Each flower had two to three rows of scales. And I didn’t use the tops of the pinecones but there is no reason why you couldn’t.
It took me a few hours. Most of the pine cones netted a total of two flowers.
I used 25 cut pine cone flowers on my wreath. Of course, you may need more or less depending on the size grapevine wreath you use. (I used a 16″.)
Painting Pinecones
Painting the pine cones was my favorite part. And this is the part where you need to pay attention.
I have two really important color tips for you. So be sure to read below.
It’s easy to buy six small bottles of paint and paint the pine cones each color. But often that will result in a wreath that isn’t color cohesive. Can you tell the colors of the pine cones below were made from two colors and white? Anytime your color palette is created from two colors, all of your colors will be cohesive.
Mixing Colors
I mixed six colors using Alizarin Crimson (burgundy) and Medium Yellow (and white) and put them in paper cups. The colors ranged from lots of burgundy and a tiny bit of white or yellow to lots of yellow with a tiny bit of white or burgundy.
You can see the colors I mixed in the photo above. (I should have taken the photo before I added the highlights because some of them look more similar than they are.)
The next thing you need to do is paint all of your pine cones with a base coat. I painted six pine cones in each of the six colors.
But here is the important step, I then went back and lightly brushed on some highlights of the other colors on each pine coneflower.
This is what my pine cones looked like after I painted the first coat.
And here is how they looked with a highlight of one of the other colors. After they dried I added even another one of the colors.
This photo shows the pinecones and how the color highlights make them even more harmonious.
I love how they look!
For a foolproof way to mix these colors, pick one color, a warm yellow, and white. Then mix to get different shades. You can see below that I used the Alizarin Crimson (which is a burgundy shade) and I added different but very small amounts of yellow and white to get the different shades.
The colors are bright and definitely perfect for a spring or fall wreath!
Assembling the Wreath
Assembling the wreath is very easy. I had painted some smaller pine cones because I thought I might need them. But I ended up leaving them out.
I had some week-old eucalyptus in vases (that had dried) and it worked perfectly. You can use any type of greenery, faux or real, or in my case, dried and neglected.
I stuck the stems of the eucalyptus into the wreath. Don’t use too much, just enough to offer light coverage.
Add in the greenery all the way around being sure to follow the same direction all the way around. Stick the stem into the wreath to secure it (although the glue used to attach the pinecones will also secure the greenery).
With a hot glue gun, attach the pinecones to the wreath.
Work your way around the wreath by adding more pinecones.
That’s all it takes!
Watch my video to see more details.
I can’t wait to make more of these!
Ready to make this amazing wreath? Click on the items below for everything you need to make this wreath.
Watch My Amazon Live
Click here to watch any of my Amazon Live shows. All shows are recorded.
You might enjoy all of the craft items I shared as seen in the Amazon Live featured below.
Check out all of these amazing DIY wreaths.
Magnolia Wreath – The Happy Housie // DIY Orange Wreath – The Handmade Home // Magnolia Farmhouse Wreath – Tatertots & Jello // Driftwood Welcome Wreath – My Sweet Savannah
Front Door Decorating Ideas – Sanctuary Home Decor // Book Page Wreath – The DIY Mommy // Moss Ball Floral Wreath – Lolly Jane // Floral Winter Wreath – A Blue Nest // Spring Floral Wreath – Jennifer Maune
Heart Emoji Wreath – Cassie Bustamante // How To Make A Spring Wreath – My 100 Year Old Home // Strawflower Heart Wreath – Finding Lovely // Felt Flowers Wreath – Happy Happy Nester
Simple Spring Wreath – Art of Everyday Living // Coffee Filter Wreath – She Gave It A Go // Minimalistic Spring Wreath – Taryn Whiteaker Designs // How To Make A Spring Wreath – Hallstrom Home // Eucalyptus Wreath – Twelve on Main
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Hi Leslie! Thank you so much for this post. I looked for a lot of ideas on how to make wreaths with pine cones, looking like flowers and yours inspired me the best. I especially loved the tip on how to paint them. I posted my wreath on my blog soon. It has been great to discover your blog.
Best wishes
Diana, thank you so much for reaching out and commenting. I very much appreciate the feedback. I’m so happy that you enjoyed the post on the pinecone wreath, it is one of my favorites! I’m so happy that you discovered me. I have so many incredible things planned for 2021, I hope you follow along! Happy Friday to you!
Hi! My husband just cut my pine cones with a band saw. He was back in the house within 5 minutes. Cut about 15 whole cones for me. Slick!!! He tried using a tin shears and said he had a much better way of doing this. Thought I’d pass this on. Needless to say I’m busy painting pine cones tonight!
Great idea Roseanne. Aren’t you lucky to have such a sweet hubby that helps you out! Let me know how your wreath turns out!
Hi there. This is beautiful and I can’t wait to make one. But, I’m confused on the paint colors. Am I understanding you right, saying that you only use burgundy and medium yellow? Then you add white to both of them, just creating darker to lighter hues of burgundy and yellow? Then you paint several pinecones one of these base colors. After that you highlight each one with one or more of the other base colors?
Thank you
This is a truly lovely wreath, but it isn’t cheap to make if you don’t have pine cones, grapevines and eucalyptus in your yard or the paint on hand. (But I’ll be making this wreath anyway because it is SO pretty!) What I really need are nice craft ideas using the things I have around my house — things like empty shoeboxes, paper towel rolls and Amazon boxes!
Hi Sue. For craft idea inspiration, check out Pinterest. So many incredible ideas there. And, you can search for specific materials to use. Good luck!
What a great idea, if the ground wasn’t covered in snow, I would walk to our neighborhood park. The pine trees there drop pinecones just like that. One year I collected enough to use as mulch in my flower beds, I liked the rustic look.
The wreath is Beautiful hopefully when the snow clears I can collect some.
Thanks for sharing,
Melissa
How wonderful to have pinecones to collect in your neighborhood park! You must have collected a zillion to mulch your flower beds. I’ll bet you had beautiful flowers that year! Let me know if you end up making this wreath Melissa!
I did collect a zillion occasionally I get compulsive or impulsive and might sweet husband just goes with it to see what I’m going to do. In deed I will send a pic if I make the wreath.
Leslie, I follow you on instagram and just saw the pic of your pine cone wreath! I thought at first glance it was zinnias! I love it and want to make for my bathroom. Thank you so much for the painting tips, they will come in handy. It’s fun to do crafts, but I am not very” crafty”. I tell myself it’s unique, no one else will have one like it!🤪
Oh I am so happy Ranell! This wreath is really gorgeous, I’m confident you can make it! Please let me know how yours turns out!
Back in the 70’s when natural crafts were very popular, we twisted the pinecones to make the flowers. We also put white pine trees cones in the oven to open them up and the pitch will melt and coat the pinecones with a glaze. The oven temperature should be very low so the pinecones don’t cook.
Wow Resta, so interesting. Thank you for sharing!
I really love the pine cone wreath! I cut some extra large pine ones and smaller ones with the dremel wood blade. I was able to get about 7-8 out of the large pinecone and 2-3 out of smaller pine ones. I really enjoy your pictures and blog. TY!
Oh my gosh Carolyn, you are ready to make this wreath! Let me know how yours turns out!
I’m going to work on this tomorrow with an oval wreath to go with my other spring decorations. I’m lucky enough to have access to my parent’s yard and they are happy to have some of the pinecones disappear! We’ll test out some different tools. I also made two heart pillows for valentines and we still have the paint out. Thanks for sharing some great projects.
I love the spring wreath you made. I have everything to make it but have a question. like Eileen, am confused about the colors for the pine one flowers. Did you use the Crimson and yellow together in 6 different cups and add different amounts of white in each cup to make the colors? I would like the colors to come out similar to yours. Thank you.
What paint did you use and I don’t get your explanation on mixing your colors
There are painting details in the post about mixing and highlighting. Check and see if that answers your questions. If not, let me know!
Hi I have been make a plaques from wooden decking material. I cut my pine cones with a lopper, a tool you use to cut branches in the garden. It’s a bit messy so do it out on your porch. I do love the results. Thanks for sharing your beautiful wreath.
Thank you for sharing Dorothy!
Hi Leslie
Your spring pinecone wreath is beautiful !! I too am confused by the paint colors. You said look on post- still confused. Please print step by step, color by color. I’m sure it would help many of us.
Thank you
Please give the paint mixing details for those of us who are still confused after reading the instructions. Also what brand of paint do you use?
Hi Leslie, did you do anything to prep the pine cones before cutting them? ie baking them to kill any bugs?
I did not. I got my pinecones at JoAnn and Amazon, not out in nature 😊
Still waiting for more detailed instructions on painting pinecones. Thank you
I added a video to the post that provides additional detail on the painting of the pinecones. Good luck with your project!
Beautiful wreath. Disappointed that you didn’t show how you painted it. ( the video didn’t show any painting). Obviously you are an experienced & talented painter. For those of us who are green horns, more detailed step by step instructions would have been nice.
Thank you for the inspiration, I just made one using a drift wood wreath, some dried hydrangea flowers and pinecone flowers, I absolutely love how it turned out! I wish I could share a picture with you!
That sounds amazing Marianne! Post a picture to Instagram and tag me!
For some reason, I can’t find the video. I have read over the post several times now and don’t see a link to it at all. Can you help?
The video is in the post in between the first and second picture!