Birch Bark and Pine Cone Trees
Keep the winter blues out while bringing some nature in with these birch bark and pine cone trees. A simple craft project and great winter decor!
Handan grew up on the warm Aegean coast of Western Turkey. All spring, summer and fall (and even during the relatively mild winters) Turks in that region spend a great deal of their lives outdoors. They stroll along the water’s edge on miles of footpaths. They sit in the long, narrow parks that hug the shorelines and play cards. They stroll through city streets and sit in outdoor cafes and enjoy the warmth of the Mediterranean climate.
She is used to being outside, if only to sit and listen to the crickets and frogs sing their nightly serenade. But when Handan experienced her first winter here in New England, with sub-zero temperatures and wind and ice and snow, her outdoor excursions came to a screeching halt.
When it comes to cold, she’s a total chicken.
A frozen chicken.
But a little cold wasn’t going to keep her from enjoying the great outdoors. If she couldn’t enjoy nature out there, then she’d bring some nature in here.
And thus was born her first pine cone tree.
And then her birch bark tree.
This is a great little project, and these pint-sized trees couldn’t be simpler to make!
Before we get to the pine cone tree tutorial, if you like little trees, you’ll love our Whimsical Christmas Tree tutorial!
Okay, for these trees, all you’ll need is a hot glue gun, some pine cones, some birch bark, and a couple of Styrofoam cones.
Pine Cone Tree
First, paint the Styrofoam cone with dark brown craft paint, so the white Styrofoam won’t show underneath the pine cones.
Then, starting from the bottom, hot glue the pine cones, one-by-one, on the Styrofoam cone.
It may look time-consuming, but before you know it, you’ll be at the top row.
Birch Bark Tree
The birch bark tree is even simpler, as you don’t need to paint the Styrofoam cone.
First, break the birch bark in to small pieces.
Then, again starting from the bottom of the cone, hot glue the broken bark pieces on the Styrofoam cone.
Now, how simple is that? And they are perfect winter decor!
Did you know that Handan loves to name her creations? It all started about 15 years ago when she created a little guy she named Barish, and it hasn’t stopped since.
By the way, did you know that “Barish” is Turkish for “peace?” His middle name is Eren, and that means “saint” in Turkish. I think he wears his names extraordinarily well.
Okay, back to the trees…
She named her pine cone tree the “Auburn Fire,” but she’s still trying to come up with a name for her birch bark tree.
If you have any bright ideas, post them in the comments!
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awesome these are so nice to look at may i suggest a name for the birch bark tree…Gandolf lol xx
I love it!
Thank you, Chris! I too love the name you suggested! So Gandalf it is đŸ™‚
I love the bark tree. Since it IS made of bark, how about a dog name? Frosty Fido. The Beagle Barker tree. Basenji Birch. I empathize with the dislike of cold weather. I froze the few years we lived in Connecticut. I hope to one day live in temperate climes.
LOL, I love your names! Yeah, CT is too cold, but you’re in Kansas, right? That gets pretty cold too, doesn’t it? You need to drop south through OK and put roots in TX!
Not fair, Handan. How did you make the MOSS tree? Love them all. đŸ™‚
Thank you, Grace! That one was even easier than the other two, so I thought it wasn’t worthy enough to make a post. đŸ™‚
But here is how to make it:
Measure the height of your Styrofoam cone, then cut several strips of that length from a moss sheet. If you don’t have a moss sheet you can find it on amazon (http://amzn.to/1OXbgta)
Then hot glue those strips on the Styrofoam cone until the Styrofoam cone is all covered.
I also covered the bottom of the Styrofoam cone with a piece of burlap, so it would look like a store bought moss tree. For that I cut a round piece from burlap and glued it to the bottom using Mod Podge.
Let me know how your project turned out!
Thanks, Handan. đŸ™‚ I have some of the moss sheet [Michael’s has it too]. I was hoping that was what you used. Much easier than the old fashioned way, and probably holds up better. Thanks again.
“Ole Man Winter for the white tree, love them all.
Thank you, Cindy! I love this name! I am making another birch bark tree so I can use both names đŸ™‚
These trees came out so great! I love the birch layered tree! Stopping by to let you know you are being featured on Friday’s P3 Party post! Have a great week! Thanks for pinning!
Best,
Kim
Thank you so much for featuring my two posts, Kim! I was away from my e-mails for two days, so I am seeing this just now. It was such a great surprise for me to see my posts featured!
Wow! I’ve run across your brilliant ideas before, thought I should stop and comment finally! Don’t stop inspiring us with your beautiful yet super simple ideas! Thank you?
Thank you very much, Laurie! Comments like yours keep us going, therefore both Greg and I highly appreciate it! đŸ™‚
LOVE the birch bark tree. Where do you get the bark? Do you sell your items?
Thank you so much, Cookie! We have fallen birch trees in the woods around our house, so I picked mine from those fallen trees. But you can find birch bark also here:
I hope this info will help!
Love the trees. What kind of evergreen tree has the small cones. They look perfect. Our pines are from 3″ to 8″.
Thank you so much, Elaine! Black spruce or red spruce carry these small cones. I picked them from Greg’s grandmother’s yard, as she had a big red spruce in her backyard. If you’d like to give the cone tree a try, but can’t find similar small cones, here is the link to all small cones they sell on ebay: http://fave.co/2fkD76R
I hope this info helps! đŸ™‚
Love all the trees, they turned out so pretty! I use to get pine cones from my daughters house but they moved. Now I need to find another supply. I do have some birch bark that I bought online a couple years back.
Thank you so much, Linda!
Thank you for the Bark Tree idea . I found some birch bark this summer from a small rotting log. I left it dry out knowing I’d come up with a project sometime. Now I know exactly what to do with it. Sometimes we have to wait a while to get the perfect project for our Rescued items. One down, A lot more to go.
Oh, man, Kathy, you are so right! We have a whole basement full of “projects” just waiting for that spark of inspiration!
I loved all of your trees. Being from NH originally, I especially loved the birch bark one as it is NH’s state tree. Just a reminder; peeling the bark off a live tree can kill it. There are usually enough dead birch on the ground as they blow down in the wind so easily that you can use that. Must look for some!
Thank you, Kathy! Oh, definitely! All our birch bark is scavenged from the forest floor! đŸ™‚
They both look great but the pinecone tree is stunning!
Thank you, Claire – it really is, especially when it catches the late afternoon winter sunlight! đŸ™‚
Love, Love both trees. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Vicki!