How To Create Beautiful DIY Blue And White Painted Pinecone Flowers

Have you seen beautifully painted pinecone flowers?  When I first saw these, they reminded me of zinnias, marigolds, and dahlias.  It’s hard to believe that these are made from pinecones and how easy it is to make them!

Prepare The Pinecones

You may already have some of these pinecones in your craft stash.  Over the years, I have saved quite a few.  Our pinecones have been in plastic bags for quite a while.

If yours are fresh and you are concerned about any little bugs that might be hiding in the pinecones, you can place them on a foil-lined sheet pan.  Then, place the pan in an oven that is set to no more than 200 degrees.  A higher temperature could burn the pinecones and start a fire!😨   Bake for 30-45 minutes.  Then, remove from the oven and allow to completely cool.

 

When you start cutting the pinecones, the process is a little messy.  Be prepared.  I use a cardboard box with the sides cut down to about 2″ high.  It is pretty easy to keep the mess inside the box.  Although cutting the cones is messy, even if you don’t have a box, it’s easy to clean up, and the end result is so stunning!

Garden clippers like this Fiskar’s brand are perfect for cutting pinecones.

There are a variety of pinecone sizes and shapes.  These pinecones are around 6-inches in length.  As you can see, you can cut several flowers from each one.  The little ‘flowers’ are actually pretty just like this, aren’t they?

For Painted Pinecone Flowers, You’ll Need:

• Garden clippers
• Pinecones
• Acrylic Craft Paint
• Paintbrushes

First, you will need to use your garden clippers to cut the pinecones.

Then, use a small stiff paintbrush to brush away the paper-thin wing attached to the seed.

Paint Colors For Painted Pinecone Flowers

Choose your paint colors.  Although the ones featured in this post are shades of blue, you can paint your pinecone flowers in whatever colors you like and as many different colors as you like.   

The alizarin crimson is calling but I refrain.  My plan is to use these in a mantel display above the fireplace along with some blue and white Asian ceramics.

So, mimicking the colors of the ceramic items, I chose these paints from my collection.  You can find these inexpensive paints where you shop for craft supplies.  (We are an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage of any sales thru the links in this post at no cost to you.  Thanks for supporting this website!)

• DecoArt – Americana Ultramarine blue
• DecoArt – Americana Primary blue
• Ceramcoat – Ultra blue
• DecoArt Americana – Sapphire
• Decoart Americana – Snow (Titanium) white
  

If you choose a single color, choose at least three shades of your color, or you can add white or another color to lighten or add depth.  It will just make your end product more interesting.

The DecoArt “Sapphire” paint has some white in it and so it is a little more opaque than the other shades of blue.

If you only use one paint color straight from the bottle, the result will be plain and less interesting.

Don’t be afraid to add a little water to the paint to thin it.  This will make it much easier for the paint to reach into all of the tiny crevices.  I like using a little water to paint with light washes.  You can layer over the top of a wash after the first wash is dry.  Personally, I think allowing the dark pattern on the pinecone petals to show through the color wash is pretty. 

Painting The Pinecone Flowers

First, pick up some water with your paintbrush and add it to one of your paint colors.  The sapphire shade is the first I used to create a wash over the petals.  The sapphire has a little bit of white pigment in it.  You can just add some white paint to one of the other blue shades to create a slightly lighter shade that is also more opaque.  

With these pinecones and their flat petals, I found that a small flat paintbrush works well. 

Paint the top side of the petals and set the flower down to dry.  After the paint is dry, paint the backside.  I actually considered leaving the backside unpainted but, ultimately, decided to give it a light coat of paint, too.  If these were to be attached to a regular grapevine wreath, it would seem to be unnecessary.

However, these are going to be attached to a grapevine wreath that has been painted with white spray paint. 

Then, take another paintbrush and add a darker shade of blue around the center.  Next, use a stiff-bristled brush to paint white onto the middle of the flower to create ‘stamens’.

Use a stiff brush to dry brush a little white paint around the edges of the petals.  I am liking the loosely painted look of these.  You can make yours more precise if you like!

Well, I have a few more of these to make before starting the wreath.  Be sure to come back for the wreath and, ultimately, for the mantel display!

 

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Photo Credit: myhumblehomeandgarden.com

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