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Painted pine cones make cute and budget-friendly home decor. You can hang them on your Christmas tree for some holiday spirit, or put them in a glass bowl. There are two easy ways to paint pine cones: you can dip them in latex or acrylic paint, or spray them with spray-paint. Dipping pine cones gives them a vivid, consistent color, while spray painting them makes them look lightly frosted.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Dipping Pine Cones in Paint

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  1. Both options work well. Latex paints are water-based and acrylics are chemical-based. Acrylic generally lasts longer and comes in a wide range of colors, but is more expensive and only available at craft stores. Household latex paint is cheaper and you can buy it at a hardware or home repair store. [1]
    • Make sure you’ve got a color of paint that you’re excited about. You can paint your pine cones white for a simple, pretty look, or jazz them up with any other color you like.
  2. Watermark wikiHow to Paint Pine Cones
    Latex paint generally comes in a bucket, so you can stir it right in the bucket. Acrylic paint generally comes in tubes, so squeeze the paint into a bowl to stir it. [2]
    • Stirring the paint makes sure that it’s all an even color and consistency, and doesn’t have any globs.
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  3. Make sure that the skewer is securely attached to the pine cone. The skewer will be your handle for dipping the pine cone in the paint. [3]
  4. Watermark wikiHow to Paint Pine Cones
    Shake the pine cone to get rid of excess paint, as you draw it out of the paint. Do the shaking over your paint bucket or over some old newspaper, so you don’t get paint spatters all over the floor.
  5. Watermark wikiHow to Paint Pine Cones
    You can then put the skewer into the next pine cone and use it to dip the pine cone in the paint. Keep it up until you have dipped all your pine cones in paint. [4]
  6. The waxy surface of the paper will not absorb as much paint as other surfaces would, so more of the paint will stay stuck to the pine cones. Your pine cones may close up overnight, because the scales tend to pull in on themselves when they’re wet, but that’s okay. [5]
    • If the pine cones close up, you can open them again in the oven.
  7. Heating the pine cones opens them up. Cover the baking sheet in aluminum foil to protect it from resin drips. Don’t worry about spacing them out perfectly, but make sure there’s enough room for them to expand a bit as they open. [6]
  8. Place the baking sheet on the center shelf of the oven. Check the pine cones every 30 minutes to see if they’ve opened. This may take an hour. [7]
    • Once they’re open, remove them from the oven.
    • Place the tray on a heat safe surface and let the pine cones cool before you handle them or decorate them more.
  9. Glitter is a great tool if you want to add some extra sparkle and pizzazz to your painted pine cones. Use a small paint brush to brush liquid school glue along the rims of the pine cone scales, or wherever you would like to apply glitter. Then sprinkle on the glitter. Shake your pine cone and the extra, unglued glitter will fall off. [8]
    • Silver glitter on white-painted pine cones can give an especially nice icy twinkle to pine cones meant for winter decorations.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Spray-Painting Pine Cones

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  1. Spray-painting creates paint fumes that aren’t good for you to breathe in. If it’s not possible to spray-paint outdoors, then make sure the room you’re working in is very well-ventilated. [9]
    • A garage with the door open is a great well-ventilated alternative to working outside.
  2. Spray-painting, especially if you’re a beginner, can spatter a lot of paint around, so having something on the ground will protect your garage floor, lawn, or wherever you are painting. [10]
    • If you don’t have newspaper, cardboard or a plastic drop cloth will work great too.
  3. Watermark wikiHow to Paint Pine Cones
    That might seem like a long time to shake it, but it will make sure that all the paint is aerosolized and ready to come out in a steady, consistent spray.
    • Some spray paint cans might have instructions on how long to shake them for before spraying. If so, follow those instructions.
  4. Watermark wikiHow to Paint Pine Cones
    Practice a few sprays until you can spray a smooth, consistent oval of paint on your scrap material. You can determine how far away from the pine cone you want to hold your spray can, based on how thickly covered with paint you want your pine cone to be. Hold it farther for a dusty, frosted look, and closer for a smoother, fully-coated look. [11]
    • This is especially important if you’ve never used spray paint before!
    • A scrap of plywood makes a good surface to practice spraying. [12]
  5. Watermark wikiHow to Paint Pine Cones
    If you just want a very lightly frosted look, then one coat of spray paint may be enough. If you want the pine cone to look more thoroughly covered, then give it a few coats. [13]
    • Try spraying the pine cones with a clear spray paint to preserve their rustic, natural look.
  6. Let the pine cones dry, standing upright on the newspaper. Don’t test the dryness with your fingers, because that could smudge the paint. Instead, sniff them. When you can no longer smell the paint, they’re all dry!
  7. After your pine cones are dry, you can decorate them however you want! Brush them with glue and sprinkle glitter, paint on extra designs with a paintbrush, or simply leave the pine cones as they are for a simple look. [14]
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      Things You’ll Need

      Dipping Pine Cones

      • Latex paint
      • Stir stick
      • Bamboo skewers
      • School glue (optional)
      • Glitter (optional)

      Spray-Painting Pine Cones

      • Spray paint
      • Newspaper
      • Plywood
      • School glue (optional)
      • Glitter (optional)

      Tips

      • If you’re in a moist or humid climate, consider drying your pine cones in the oven before painting them. Simply put them on a baking sheet and bake at 200 °F (93 °C) for around 2 hours, checking them every 30 minutes or so.
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        Dec 9, 2021

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