As silly as it sounds sparkling Christmas trees make the season bright and more festive. I love, love the different lights during the holidays and anything that sparkles. A twinkling Christmas tree just feels like home and is calming to look at against the dark night. Despite the beautiful finished product, decorating the tree can be a real pain. Fragile ornaments crack or shatter and replacing them gets expensive. I have a plan for ornaments that will blanket the tree with sparkle for almost no cost and under 20 minutes. Decorated pine cones from the yard can double as ornaments or round-the-house decor. You may be as creative as you want – save your money for gifts and simplify your holiday decorations!
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| Sparkling Ornaments for Less! |
Using spray paint to dress up pine cones from the yard saves dollars and is a quick fix for a tree in an ornament crunch. You can use whatever seasonal color you like and also add beads or glitter for an extra touch of sparkle. I bought my spray paint from Walmart for $3 per can and used old beads I had on hand. I chose silver and gold for my colors. Gold was so much prettier with my decor but silver worked well also. Glitter would be beautiful if you want to use it. One can of spray paint will cover many, many pine cones. This makes a very inexpensive decoration for holidays on a budget. The decorated cones also make creative and festive gifts for LESS (time and money)!
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| Simple Supplies |
Spread newspaper on the ground. Use the paint in a well ventilated area (like outside) because it smells bad. I collected pine cones from my yard and spaced them closely together on the newspaper. This saves paint as the over spray from each cone goes onto the neighboring cones. It also saves spraying time. The spraying takes under one minute for one pine cone.
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| Align the pine cones |
Spray in bursts with the nozzle and cover the pine cone completely.
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| Cover the cones completely with paint |
If you are using beads or glitter, sprinkle it on just after you spray the cones. The beads/glitter will stick in the wet paint and set on the pine cone as the paint dries. Beads worked very well using this method.
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| Sprinkle beads or glitter into the wet paint |
Allow the cones to dry on the newspaper for at least a couple of hours. If you can, allow the paint to dry overnight. Once the paint dries, the pine cones are ready to use. If you are using them as ornaments, attach a paper clip, ornament hanger, or wrap a piece of floral wire around the end as a hanger. Use whatever you have on hand. The floral wire is great because it winds nicely through the pine cones for a secure fit.
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| Affix a hanger to the pine cone |
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| Beautiful |
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| Candle Decor |
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| On the tree |
And one last photo with the candle. It is a very simple and inexpensive table decoration.
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| A beautiful table |