14 Ways To Decorate With Pinecones (Fall’s Free Decor)
Pinecones are fall’s free decor. Here are 14 simple ways I use them around my home, from a cloche with lights to a pinecone wreath, garland and centerpiece.
I moved to the countryside a few years ago, and I am in decorating heaven. Woods filled with pine trees in all variations, all around me.
I come home with my pockets stuffed every time I go out for a nature walk.
Where do all those treasures end up? In my decorating, of course.
Over the years I have used pinecones in my fall and Christmas decor all the time. They are free, they are beautiful, and no two are the same.
Let me show you my way of decorating with pinecones. Fourteen ideas, all from my own home, most of them costing exactly nothing.
1. A Pinecone Under a Cloche
One large pinecone. One extra tall cloche. A string of lights wound loosely at the bottom.
The glass makes the light glow all around it. This pinecone is wide open so I could tuck the tiny fairy lights right up in there. Some pinecones are more closed.
Why some of my pinecones are wide open and others stay shut? That little fact is explained further down.
2. Frosted Pinecones in a Bowl
Frost a handful of pinecones with a touch of white paint and fill a bowl. I used my favorite large white bowl, anything looks good in that one. You can find a pretty similar one here.
This is my favorite kind of pinecone centerpiece, and the white versions stay out long after the fall decorations go back in the attic.
3. A Centerpiece in Five Minutes
Some days I just want the table to look like fall by dinnertime.
So I reach for a small crate or low basket. Dump in a bunch of seasonal decorations: little pumpkins in fall, greens and berries at Christmas. Add a large candle, then fill every gap with pinecones.
Done and on the table.
4. A Twig Wreath With a Handful of Pinecones
Sometimes a wreath needs just a few pinecones.
My twig wreath got just a handful, tucked together at the bottom. The twigs keep it airy, the pinecones give it weight right where you want the eye to land. See the instructions for my DIY twig wreath here.
Simple, a little wild, and made entirely of things that fell off trees.
5. Pinecones in Lanterns
A lantern with pinecones is a tiny decorated world.
The one above hangs on an outside wall, part of that year’s Christmas outdoor decorating: faux snow in the bottom, pinecones nestled on top.
P.S. you can see my frost flower windows in the background. Now that was a fun DIY project!
The second sits inside on a tray, a white lantern with bottle brush trees and lights, ringed with pinecones. A little Christmas vignette.
Same idea, two looks.
6. A Vintage Egg Basket Filled With Pinecones
My vintage French egg basket, filled with pinecones, sitting on the bench by the door.
That is all it takes. The basket did the styling for me.
7. The Pinecone Garland
Pinecones strung on twine, placed wherever the room needed a little extra. On the mantel, along a shelf, draped over the table.
This one came in two versions. The fall natural brown garland and when I painted it white for a Christmas statement. See my DIY pinecone garland in action here (don’t feel like DIY-ing, I found a very pretty pinecone garland here).
8. An Easy Pinecone Centerpiece
Sometimes (not often) I put in a bit more time and effort and create an actual centerpiece. A floral arrangement of sorts.
Except, in this one, I used all kinds of different pinecones instead of flowers. And there was actually not much effort put in, this DIY fall centerpiece is very easy.
9. The Pinecone Wreath, Twice
The fall version: all natural pinecones glued onto a wreath base. Warm, woodsy, nothing added. See the DIY instructions here. And if you don’t want to DIY I found the prettiest one here.
The winter version: the same wreath in white. The pinecones got a paint treatment that made them look dusted with snow.
One technique, two seasons. My kind of decorating math.
10. A Branch on a Door
This might be my favorite free thing I have ever hung on a door.
A few fallen branches, still holding a few pinecones, hung on the door hook with twine. That is the whole idea.
It looks like something from a magazine, and it cost one nature walk. Which I was taking anyway.
11. The Pinecones That Travel Through the Seasons
This tobacco basket wreath was on my wall for months. It started as a fall wreath with a hint of Christmas and then moved into a Christmas wreath that worked all winter. The pinecones moved right along. You can totally make a tobacco basket wreath like this yourself. Find the full DIY instructions here.
12. A Few Pinecones Here, a Few There
The corner of a shelf. The edge of the mantel. Next to a plain lamp.
I scatter a few pinecones around my fall vignettes as a whimsical touch. It makes a vignette look finished with just that touch of nonchalance it needs.
13. Pinecones and Books
A stack of books in rustic covers, one or two pinecones leaned against it or resting on top.
Coffee table, nightstand, next to the lamp. A bookish little still life that cost nothing.
14. The Store-Bought Wreath That Got a Makeover
Every Christmas season the stores are full with plain evergreen wreaths. They are fine, a nice must have staple in your decorating stash.
I took one and added fresh greens and tucked pinecones in wherever I could fit them. Now it looks like custom and handmade and luscious and full and if I put in a lot of effort (I didn’t). See how I turned a boring into a gorgeous wreath here.
The Little Secret of Open and Closed Pinecones
Remember the cloche?
Here is the little secret I promised. Fresh pinecones actually open and close. On a dry, sunny day, the scales spread wide open to release their seeds. When it is damp or rainy, they fold right up to protect them.
The woods are doing this quietly all around my house, all the time.
One thing I learned from my piles of them: once pinecones have fully dried, the moving stops. They stay exactly as they are, open or closed, forever. If they dry in the warmth they stay open, if they dry in cold conditions they stay closed.
How To Prepare Pinecones for Decorating
One quick practical thing before you start decorating with pinecones, because I would feel bad not telling you.
Pinecones from outside can carry dirt, and now and then a little resident. Bugs, sap, the occasional spider who did not read the room.
So before mine come inside, I give them a good shake and a brush to get all the loose debris of. Then I lay them out on a sheet or newspaper (preferably in the sun) and give all the little bugs a chance to leave. This will also dry them out completely. Once dry (and fully opened) I am content, I have never ever had a problem.
But if that doesn’t put your mind to rest, then you can pop them on a baking sheet in a low oven, around 200°F, for an hour or so. The heat takes care of anything living in there, dries them out completely, and encourages any shy ones to open up. Keep an eye on them while they are in there.
Once they have cooled, they are ready for every single idea in this post.
Don’t forget to save this ideas to your home decor ideas board on Pinterest!
So, What About You?
Do you decorate with pinecones too? Or with whatever your corner of the world gives you for free?
Tell me in the comments which of the nine is your favorite. Mine changes weekly, but this week it is the branch on the door. And if you are gathering pinecones of your own this fall, save this post so you have all the ideas handy when you get home.