Seasons > Christmas > Decorations for the home > Decorate for Christmas with Pinecones

If you can pick up pinecones near where you live, you can make so many free or inexpensive Christmas decorations! Keep your eyes open for different kinds and sizes of pinecones to make your decorations look more interesting. Pinecones are rather drab on their own, so be sure to add a sprig of greenery, some Christmas balls, or a candle. With this formula, you can sprinkle Christmas cheer all through your house for very little cost. Windowsills, bookshelves, end tables and night stands all get dressed up for Christmas.

Wreaths can decorate so much more than just your front door. Decorate your bedrooms, too. Just for the Christmas season, take down the picture that usually hangs above the bed, and replace it with a wreath.

Here is a tip that doesn’t have anything to do with pinecones: You can add more Christmas decorations with a red throw pillow. Buy a cover at a dollar store. If you don’t have a throw pillow that you can cover just for the Christmas season, stuff the cushion cover with plastic shopping bags or towels. You will hear the crinkle when you move it off the bed at night, and you can smile because of the money you saved. Unless the room is a guest room, visitors won’t have a clue what is inside the pillow!

You can save a bundle if you make wreaths yourself!  Craft stores (and sometimes dollar stores) sell vine wreaths very inexpensively. Pick up your own pinecones and fasten them on with florist’s wire or glue gun, and it is REALLY cheap!! Make your own bow in just minutes. The greenery can be free if you have trees in your yard that don’t turn brown quickly. Another source of fresh greenery can be branches that are trimmed so that the live Christmas tree can fit into the tree stand. If you don’t want to be bothered with fresh greens, then buy some fake greenery at a dollar store or craft shop. Floral picks are usually quite inexpensive, and add interest with a combination of decorations, like a mini bouquet, all on a single stem. Poke the stems between the vines of the wreath, on either side of the bow. If they don’t stay in place, fasten them on with florist’s wire.

On the vine wreath above, there are 2 kinds of large cones just above the bow, and 2 or 3 kinds of small cones glued to the wreath itself. Large pinecones are quite heavy, so they need to be fastened on with florist’s wire. This is sold at crafts stores, Walmart, and some dollar stores.

view how to make a bow

view more tips on making a wreath

Fill a basket with pinecones, add a red bow, and you have a Christmas decoration that can go almost anywhere. Use it as a centerpiece. Try putting it in the bathroom or on a kitchen counter. Other options are on the floor next to a sofa or chair, on the front porch (under the roof, of course!) or in the foyer on a small table or in an empty corner on a staircase--the possibilities are almost endless.

Bedrooms can be fun to decorate for Christmas, too. Put a basket of pinecones  on a dresser. Don’t stop there. Put some pinecones and Christmas balls on the nightstand, for another Christmas accent. See two examples in photos above.