Pine cone flowers festive for fall

Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) (MCT) - When your family is bored with nothing to do, send them to the yard to gather freshly fallen pine cones.

Instead of bagging the cones for trash, recycle them into hand-painted flowers you can arrange in a vintage container or hot glue to a grapevine wreath.

It's what some men and women at Victory Baptist Church in Hampton, Va., have been doing for months, thanks to the inspiration of church member-artist Cornelia Watkins. They sell the floral arrangements for $30-$50 to support the church's missionary work and to send the church's school kids on trips.

"The flowers last forever," says Cornelia. "I have some I made in the '80s and they are still beautiful."

Making the flowers requires just a few steps and basic supplies.

First, Cornelia's husband, Charles, and David Gaskins shape the cones into flowers. They use a band saw to cut large cones into three sections or smaller cones into two sections, always sawing crosswise. They snip off any rough edges and hot glue in extra petals that may fall off during the sawing process.

Being the perfectionist that he is, Charles uses a flexible shaft, similar to what you see in a dentist's office, that's equipped with wood-cutting bits to further refine the pine cone edges. A hand-held Dremel can do the same job.

"I try to envision the flower and leave it up to the women to paint them," he says.

Once Cornelia and other women in the church get their hands on the bare cone flowers, they use acrylic paints to transform them into the likes of zinnias, roses, daffodils, daisies and peonies. Flowers can be painted to coordinate with a home's decor, made to mimic nature's real-life color scheme or done with holiday touches such as gold and silver with glitter accents. White tips on solid-colored zinnias look especially nice, says Lisa Gaskins, who painted one blue with white tips and a yellow center. It's all about imagination, the women say.

Here's how you can create them at home for gift-giving and decorating this holiday and throughout the year:

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MATERIALS

Fresh pine cones (weathered ones not recommended)

Small saw with narrow blade

Hand drill with small bit

Wood skewers

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Acrylic paints (green for stems)

Artist paint brushes

Clear acrylic spray

DIRECTIONS

Cut large pine cones into three sections, crosswise; smaller cones best cut into two sections.

Use drill to make small hole in the bottom of each section.

Paint skewers with green acrylic paint and allow them to dry.

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Once skewers are dry, hot glue one into the bottom hole of each section. These become your flower stems.

Holding each flower by the stem, paint each petal, making sure you cover top and bottom, and all parts of the cone. Apply a second coat, if necessary, to cover cone.

Let dry for 30 to 45 minutes and then spray with clear acrylic in a well-ventilated area.

Allow cone flowers to thoroughly dry before using them in an arrangement.

Tip: Flowers can be spray painted, but it's less expensive to use bottled acrylic paint, says Cornelia.

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© 2008, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).