NEWS ARTICLE

For: Release week of December 2, 2002

To: Rotating News Article

By: Linda K. Bowman, Ext. Agt. IV - Family & Consumer Sciences

Santa Rosa County Extension Service

Telephone: 850/623-3868 or 939-1259, ext. 1360

“Colorful Pine Cones”

Using natural materials to decorate for Thanksgiving and Christmas can save money and bring the beauty of the outdoors inside. If you want something a little different for your decorations, try bleaching or dyeing pine cones.

Bleaching: Fill a 5-gallon bucket half-full of water. Fill the rest of the way with liquid chlorine bleach. (Use the cheapest kind of bleach.) Add the pine cones. Place a rack or similar object on top of the pine cones to keep them submerged. Soak them for about six hours to overnight until the pine cones are the color you want. Remove the cones from the solution. Rinse them. Spread them out to dry. They will close when wet, but they reopen when dried.

If you leave the cones in for only a few hours, more can be added after the first ones are removed. However, the bleaching process will stop after about eight to ten hours as the chlorine evaporates and you only have water left.

The cones should be a golden color. This soaking usually removes the dirt and resin.

Dyeing: Pine cones can be dyed to add color to your wreath or fireside basket. The colors are soft, not bright as when they are spray painted.

Bleach the pine cones as directed above. Dry. Mix one package of fabric dye in 1 gallon of hot water. (Use any color you like. Red, green, blue, and yellow work well.) Heat to a simmer. Put the pine cones into the hot dye solution. Put a weight on top of the pine cones to keep them submerged. Leave the cones in the hot dye solution for 20 to 30 minutes. They will close up. Spread the cones on layers of newspapers to dry and open again.

Put the finished pine cones in a wooden bowl or basket and tuck small bows among them.

For more information contact the Linda Bowman at the Santa Rosa County Extension Office at 623-3868 or 939-1259, Ext. 1360. Extension Service programs are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap or national origin.