Fall is officially here. I had to type that just now to convince myself of this fact. I’d been trying my hardest to hold onto the summer for as long as I could. Despite the beautiful fall foliage, the cooler evenings and the yummy pumpkin spiced treats that seem to be everywhere, I refused to accept it - until now. I’ve decided to slowly incorporate the change in season in my home decor. I started with 3 simple projects using the humble pine cone. Growing up in the Bronx, I’d never really had much contact with pine cones so this was definitely a learning experience!
First I gathered my pine cones. I now live in GA, so these were plentiful. I tried to find ones that weren’t damaged and made sure to gather pine cones in varying sizes. Once I had a decent amount, I brought them home and washed them thoroughly to remove any dirt or critters that might be living in them. I laid them out in the garage to dry overnight. When I went to get my clean Pine Cones the next day, I was very surprised to see that they were half their original size! I was perplexed and actually thought I had managed to somehow ruin the pine cones! I had to take a step back and do a little research. Turns out that pine cones actually open and close as part of their life cycle. The pine cone opens when conditions are favorable (warm and dry) for the seeds to disperse, and close when it’s not (cold and wet).