This next project that I put together for the month long focus on handmade gifts is another pine cone project. When I was gathering pine cones from my yard, I enlisted my daughter to help me collect them, in addition to that, Mr. Handy also started making piles for me while he was out doing yard work. So needless to say, I ended up with A LOT of pine cones! These pine cones were left over from the Pine Cone Wreath Project. And ironically, even after this project, I STILL have left over pine cones. I have added them to a basket that sits on my farm table for a little bit of fall flair. I promise, no more pine cone projects after this one! Okay before I move on, I will say that there are a TON of pine cone projects on Pinterest. I pinned a bunch of them while I was doing research on what I could make for handmade holiday gifts...you know because Pinterist IS the Encyclopedia Britannica of DIY projects right?? So if you, like me, have way too many pine cones on hand, here are some additional projects you can do to use these suckers up! Pine Cone Projects Pin Board
Back to the project. So my parents moved to the lake about 9 months before Mr. Handy and I moved here. They bought a really beautiful, rustic cabin that is amazing. They have two fireplaces that are pretty much always burning when its' cold. And unlike our fireplace that has fake gas logs (that are soon to be removed) theirs is a real wood burning fireplace. So this handmade holiday gift is actually for them. Hopefully my mom or dad don't read this before Christmas because they will see what I made to kick off their fireside moments!! For this project you will need:
Because I used a Febreze scented wax, these little pine cones smell wonderful. You could keep these in a basket next to the fireplace and get to enjoy the scent when you are not burning them. I tried these out in our fire pit and they work beautifully. It started a fire right up. My parents do a lot of fires so I used all of them and put them in one big jar, but if you didn't want to give such a large jar of these, you could break them up into medium/large mason jars and decorate them with a holiday ribbon and turn these into multiple batches. I hope my parents like these. I think they turned out adorable and again, they smell wonderful.
Oh and total spent on this project - Approximately $16.00
Pine Cones - Free
Febreze - on sale at Wal-Mart - $1.50 each / I used two $3.00
Glass Jar - $6.00
Long Matches - $7.00 - which I will include when I give this to them
We still have so many really awesome handmade gifts still to come. I hope you are enjoying this series. I know that I am having a blast making these and I can't wait to give them to my friends and loved ones.
Until Next Time...
~Amanda