Using pine cones collected outdoors can result in mold, mildew, or creepy crawlies invading your home unless they are correctly preserved for indoor use. Learn how to prepare pine cones for crafts NATURALLY and bring fresh evergreen scented pine cones to your home decor.
Fresh pine cones are a beautiful, natural addition to your home decor. They are available for free in the great outdoors and are eco-friendly.
Many craft sites suggest the use of chlorine bleach on pine cones. This is a mistake! Pine cones are porous and will absorb the bleach. They will continuously release these noxious fumes in your home.
Pine cones are available at many craft stores, but commercially purchased pine cones have often been treated with artificial scents that also contain noxious fumes that will be released into your home.
Fortunately there is an easy, all-natural, and FREE way to prepare fresh pine cones for crafts.
How to Prepare Pine Cones
1 – Collect pine cones. The pine cones pictured are Eastern White Pine (Pinus Stobus) from my yard. The white appearance is from the dried sap on the outside of the pine cones.
2 – Remove any debris or pine needles stuck on the pine cones.
3 – Soak the pine cones for 10-20 minutes in a bucket of water with ½ cup of white vinegar. This helps to kill any bugs or mildew and remove settled in debris. The pine cones will close up more tightly when they get wet.
4 – Place the pine cones on old newspapers to dry overnight.
5 – Line baking sheets with parchment or foil. Place pine cones on baking sheets and bake for several hours at 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit. Check the pine cones frequently while baking so they do not catch on fire. (Your home will smell wonderful!)
6 – The pine cones will be fully open, dry and shiny when finished baking. The shiny finish is due to the sap melting into the pine cones. This acts as a natural finish and preservation agent.
7 – Cool the pine cones completely and use in your favorite crafts.
Stages of Pine Cone Preparation
This images shows (from left to right):
1. Freshly collected pine cones.
2. Washed and partially dried pine cones.
3. Fully oven dried pine cones.
Pine Cone Crafts
Pine cones can be used for all kinds of crafts. I love making an easy pine cone garland.
Want to make snow covered pine cones? This ultimate guide shows you the 5 most common methods plus tips and tricks.
Need more pine cone craft ideas? I love these easy pine cone holiday decorations!
Like my easy crafts? Sign up for my free newsletter below and never miss a thing!
Bren Did Newsletter Subscribers Get Access!
Danielle Sabatini
I did this last night through tonight with I don’t even know how many pine cones & it works AMAZING!! Thanks SO much! My house smells SOOO GREAT!!
Bren
Wooo hooo! Love the pine smell!
Kathy
Hi, I’m doing mine today. Did the oven smell like pine afterwards? Worried that the oven will absorb the pine scent and my food will smell.
Bren
I have had no problem with my oven smelling like pine after drying the pinecones. I would not eat pine scented food either! 😉
Darren O'Keeffe-Coles
Hi,
Baking the cones (even at 200F for as little as 30 min) produces fumes which makes my head buzz and make me feel funny.
Does anyone else find this?
I have been concerned about it and so searching on Google I find these:
“Pine cones and pine wood do release creosote when they burn, which is a tar-like substance that can build up on chimney walls.”
“Creosote also tends to ooze out of treated timbers in hot weather often giving off toxic vapours. Workers should be aware that exposure to creosote can cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation and may, in the longer-term, cause organ damage or even cancer”
Is there a way around this? You might also consider placing a warning on your blog?
Darren
Bren
Darren, sorry the smell affects you negatively! Creosote is released by any fire in a fireplaces or wood stove. You should definitely check your kitchen ventilation (open a window, turn on the hood vent, etc) and check your oven vent if the fumes are building to the point that they bother you. Good luck! Bren
Anita
Hi Bren, not sure if you’re still receiving comments on this thread…. but worth a try.
My son and I just tried this with Easter white pinecones, rinsed in bucket with cold water then soaked for 20 minutes with vinegar and water 1-2 cups big bucket. Then laid out to dry overnight indoors.
We baked them at 200F for 3hours with no melting of sap, so turned temp up to 250F for another hour, some melting sap but not much. White crusted sap still on tips etc and some inside. Raised temp to 260F another hour or so but still quite a bit of unmelted sap.
These pinecones were taken off the ground, I think would have been under the snow all winter. Are we doing something wrong? New Oven was on convection bake. On non convection setting, oven has element at top only so didn’t think would distribute heat adequately. Any thoughts what we did wrong? Hope we hear from you! Thanks so much,
Anita 🙂
Bren
Anita, the pinecones might have been too old. I’ve generally had the best success with “fresh” pinecones that have fallen from the trees in the fall. You can still use yours for crafts, they just won’t shine as much. You can also try spraying them with a shiny clear coat from the craft store of make them into “snow covered” pinecones.
Vicki
I picked up pine cones last year at this time. I put them in a box and they have been in my shed since. With many days this summer being 105+ my shed got hot. Do I still need to soak then and bake them before I use them for crafts or should they be dry enough, and I could just dust them?
Bren
If the pinecones are hard and shiny and bug free you should be good. If not, I would still soak and bake them. Good luck!
Jan
Ok. I saw a website where I could make pinecone flowers by spraypainting pine cones. I have so many pinecones falling off my trees right now in the springtime. Can I soak and bake them to do craft projects or can one only use the pinecones collected in the fall of the year?
Bren
They should be okay at any time of year as long as they are falling off.
romy Lazzari
you should give a good shake try to remove spiders etc… they are more valuable than pine cone decorations
Bren
Yes, when collecting the pine cones I try to remove all debris… including spiders and pine needles… before bringing them inside!
Maralyne stanczak
I teach grade school art. A parent gave me a bag of pine cones. Not sure if treated. I did notice some dirt or dust. Can I soak and air dry ? Cannot bake at home or school. I have many environmental allergies. Handling the cones today was starting to make me itchy today. Do we paint with acrylic or washable tempura paint ? Then spray with Modge Podge ? Please let me know ASAP. Maralyne stanczak
Bren
I would not bake them if you do not know if they have been treated. Instead you can rinse them and let them dry or dust them with salt (place the pine cones in a plastic bag along with a few spoonfuls of coarse salt, shake the bag gently to remove the dust, remove the pine cones from the bag and shake off the remaining salt.) I would test your paint to see which sticks when it dries, if the pine cones have been treated tempura paint may not stick. Good luck with your project!
Jenny
Hello Bren and thank you for sharing your wisdom. One question-we have so many (Eastern White) pine cones this year I am struggling to get them up before it snows! Right now I have a 5 gal (joint compound) bucket full. How much vinegar would you use for this size bucket?
Bren
I would use a cup or two of vinegar… it’s not an exact science, but that amount should help get them clean!
Brittany
Went to soak them and a million spiders crawled out. I’m scarred for life! 😂
Bren
Oh no! I’m glad the spiders were not in your decorations!