Students will need a thin pine cone, an acorn, a boll from a cotton plant, craft paint and ribbon. Glue an acorn on top of the pine cone. Use the cotton boll for the wings. If no cotton plants are available, use dried leaves, or even construction paper for wings. Glue the wings to the back of the pine cone. Paint a face on the acorn. Tie the ribbon around the neck, leaving a loop in the back for hanging the completed project.
With floral cutters, remove the cone base. Beginning at the bottom, slip cutters behind one scale and clip until every scale is removed. Cut a 4 inch length of floral wire and form it into a hook at one end of the wire. Using card stock, cut a disk in the desired size of the flower bloom. Poke wire through the center of the disk and let hook rest on surface. Cover disk with glue and begin arranging pine scales around the edges like a flower. If a fuller flower is needed, add another layer of smaller scales inside the first row. Keep adding pedals until the blossom is built up the way you like. Allow to dry overnight. Flowers can be painted, or gilded by dry brushing the scales. Flowers can be arranged into bouquets or used to decorate boxes or gift cards.
You need one photo, or index card, a pine cone and some small objects collected from nature such as sticks, acorns and small rocks. For the base, you need stiff cardboard and tacky glue or a glue gun. Insert the photo into the pine cone and see which way the cone needs to set for the picture to be upright. Make sure to pick a pine cone with scales spread out enough for the photo to sit in securely. Use a dab of glue if necessary. Set the upright cone and picture on the cardboard and arrange the natural objects around the cone. Sticks can be used to prop the cone if needed. Once everything is arranged in the way the student desires, glue the pieces into place and allow the project to dry.
Turn pine cones into mice, turkeys or penguins. You can also let students get creative and create their own creature. For mice, lay the pine cone flat and add paper ears, eyes and a pom-pom nose to the pointed tip. Use string for whiskers. Stabilize the bottom by gluing on cardboard feet and yarn or a pipe cleaner for a tail. Turkeys are made in a similar way. Add a cut out turkey head to the pointed end, and feathers to the back. To make a penguin, stand the cone upright. Clip off the top portion of the cone, and glue a white Styrofoam ball on the top. Add eyes and a beak to the face. Paint the body front white and either leave the back brown or paint it black. Cut out felt wings and glue them to the sides.