Pine Tree Felt Balls Trees

This project is dedicated to my husband who will be falling off his chair the moment he sees this post.

Earlier this month I purchased this great magazine. I bought it because of the oh so cute Pine cone Tree. What will make my husband laugh is that all summer long we cursed pine cones. Really. Every Saturday bags and bags of them had to be swept up before we could start our regular grass cutting projects. This was the summer of the pine cone. We would pick up hundreds and they would literally be dropping all around us. So, I am not kidding when I say we cursed them for months. Hate those pine cones!

But this tree idea was so cute I had to sneak out to the front yard to see if any pine cones were left. The first group I brought in I decided to wash. Then I learned something. If you wash them...they close right up! So that batch was sent out with recycling. The next group I brought in were perfect...but I hate to bring things in from the outdoors without washing them.....so I sprayed them with a bug repellent first. And, there were bugs! So glad I sprayed them!

Next, I took out my very special stash of felt balls. I buy them from an amazing felt artisan who used to have a booth at the One of a Kind show. Now she has a very busy etsy shop! When I ordered this grouping of hand rolled recycled wool balls, Odile also sent me one of her felt and zipper heart pins.....isn't it gorgeous? Thank you Odile!

So my pine cones were dry and I decided to attach them to some vintage salt shakers. The original instructions call for a wooden spool...but I didn't have any and was dying to start the project. I also added some neat ribbon around the tree base that had beaded sequins already attached.
And now the best news. The designer of this pine cone tree is Terri Sullivan from "the wool acorn" and she sells a kit to make them! Here is the link. She also has the cutest felt acorns I might need to order.

My trees outdoors this morning.