A pine cone ornament is a fun nature craft to do with the kids at Christmas time. Decorate a pine cone with ribbon and glitter to highlight the festive season. 

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - nature-ally! A touch of nature is easy to add to your Christmas decor with pine cones, and the results are beautiful.

Related: Pine Cone Centerpiece

Decorating with pine cones is a walk in the park, literally. Gather some pine cones on a nature walk. This provides fresh air and exercise while exploring natural surroundings.

• If you do not have pine cones available in nature, look for them in craft stores or purchase pine cones online.

Pine cones are a wonderful natural material to use for arts and crafts activities: they're easy to paint; they're pretty much unbreakable; their rough texture adds a unique sensory experience to any activity.

This ornament is made with glitter and glue.  Biodegradable glitter is now recommended as a more eco-friendly option.

Paper confetti is another alternative to glitter. Paper confetti is easy to make with a hole punch. Using a hole punch is a great fine motor activity for kids. 

Working with glitter and glue can be a little messy. Be sure to wear smocks or paint shirts and use drop cloths.

Pine cone ornament

Materials list

• pine cone
• narrow ribbon
• cotton balls
• biodegradable glitter or paper confetti
• white school glue 

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Instructions for a pine cone ornament craft

Wrap ribbon around the pine cone. The ribbon has a natural curl as it comes off the spool which is helpful when children are winding it around the pine cone.

Leave enough ribbon at the end to make a hanger.

Pull some bits of fluff from a cotton ball.

Push them into the crevices of the pine cone. This is a great fine motor activity.

Squeeze dabs of glue onto the pine cone.

Sprinkle glitter onto the glue.

• Place some flakes in a small dish or jar lid. Pinch glitter between the fingertips then drop onto the glue on the pine cone. This is another fine motor exercise.
  
  

Hang decorated pine cones on a Christmas tree or wreath.

Add a bow to a pine cone decoration.

A pine cone wrapped with gold ribbon looks awesome trimmed with a homemade burlap bow.

Place a decorated pine cone on a wreath or planter arrangement.

More pine cone art activities:

• Paint pine cones with a paintbrush. Shake glitter or confetti over the wet paint. Allow to dry.
  
  
• Roll pine cones in a tray of paint and then roll them across a large sheet of paper.

Add nature to your Christmas decor with this simple pine cone ornament.

That walk in the park added a fun touch of nature to your Christmas decorations!