Pinecone Flowers

Identify the best pinecones and decorative centers for your project: Eastern white pinecones have long scales; brown, natural canella berries are good centers for flat blooms. The tiny cones of the Sabulosum tree are ideal for delicate flowers. Use snipped cloves or the top of a poppy pod for centers. Douglas fir cones result in plump blossoms; tamarack buds can be used as centers or as buds. For zinnia-like florets, use blue spruce cones combined with rice grass as centers. Norway spruce cones can be layered to create big flowers; dried weeping grass makes pretty tufted centers.

Next, remove the scales from the pinecones and using the floral cutters, remove the pinecone's base. Starting at the cone's bottom, slip one blade of the cutters behind a scale and snip it off. Continue, working upward until all of the scales have been removed and only the stem remains.

To assemble the pinecone flowers, fill a small bowl with the scales. You'll need a cardboard box (at least 4 inches square) with a hinged lid for your work surface.

Snip 4 inches of the floral wire and form a small hook on one end. From cardstock, cut a disk a bit larger than the desired size of the bloom's center. Secure the disk to the box top by poking the wire through both, letting the hook rest in the center so the wire won't fall through. 

Next, using tacky glue, attach the scales in a flower shape to the disk; the hook will become covered with glue. For a fuller blossom, add another layer inside of the first, using smaller scales, adding up to five layers for larger blooms. Use tacky glue to attach one or more of the cloves or the tiny plant parts in the center; let it dry, and remove the bloom from the box. 

To give the pinecones an all-over sheen, gently press each flower face-down into a golden stamp pad. To burnish only the tips, press the edges into the pad.

To create a stem, wrap the wire in brown floral tape starting at the base of the blossom; or cut off the wire, if desired, for a stemless bloom. 

To make the buds and the leaves for a vine, attach tamarack buds and large scales to 4 inch-long wires: Wrap the floral tape around the wires and the bases of the bud or scale, adding tacky glue where necessary. Cut a piece of heavy floral wire as long as the desired length of the vine.

Alternate florets with buds and leaves: Lay the stem against the floral wire, wrap it in place with brown floral tape, lay the next against the wire, wrap it, and so on until the vine is complete.