Holiday DIY: Pinecone Trees With Felted Wool

Make your own festive holiday decorative pinecone trees with felted wool!

Step 1:

What you'll need:

Pinecones
Pencil
Ruler
Rectangular block of wood (It can be finished any way you like – stained, painted, or left natural.)
Drill (not shown)
Glue (A glue gun is preferable, but white glue can also be used.)
Felted wool balls. You can make your own using the supplies listed below or purchase ready-made ones either online or at specialty craft stores)
Wool roving (can usually be found at yarn shops, or craft stores)
Bowl of warm water
Small dish with a couple drops of dish soap or liquid hand soap

Step 2:

With a pencil and ruler, mark where you want to place the pinecones on the piece of wood. I wanted them to be centered and equally spaced out, so I measured the center spot and then made two more marks equally spaced from the center.

Step 3:

Next, drill the holes for the acorns. If you have a hand drill, use the largest bit you have. If you have a drill press, drill a hole that will match the size of the bottom of your pinecones.

Step 4:

With a glue gun or white glue, glue your pinecones into place and set aside.

Step 5:

Holding your wool roving in one hand, lightly pinch away a piece of roving from the end of the bunch. You want to end up with a wispy bunch of roving that’s approximately 5 inches long.

Step 6:

Start wrapping the pieces around your index finger as if you were winding a ball of yarn. Continue to wrap the fibers in different directions. Once the ball is wound loosely, roll it lightly between your palms to create a loose circular shape. Dip the ball into the bowl of warm water and lightly touch it into the dish with the liquid soap. NOTE: Adding too much soap to wool fibers will prevent them from felting. If you find you have too much soap, you can rinse it out a bit in the bowl of water or under a tap.

Step 7:

Once the ball is wet, continue to roll it lightly in the palm of your hands. As the wool felts, it will harden. It should take under a minute for the felting to be done and the whole process should take less time once you get the hang of it. Once the ball feels felted dip it again into the warm water to rinse some of the suds off. It doesn’t need to be completely soap free before it dries. Set the balls aside and allow them to dry.