Who doesn’t love Pinterest? I’ve been taking lots of inspiration from it recently, especially on the run up to Christmas. A little while ago, Louise from Book Murmuration got in touch to see if I’d be up for a blogger collaboration and make some Pinterest-inspired Christmas nature crafts and decorations. Blogger collabs are lots of fun to do, I’ve been lucky to partner with The Life of a Glasgow Girl, Mademoiselle Women, Jenny in Neverland and most recently, Bournemouth Girl. So I’m sure you can imagine how delighted I was to combine a collab with Pinterest!
3 Easy and Fun Pinterest Christmas Nature Crafts
Louise’s blog is dedicated to children’s literature and the benefits of a bookish lifestyle. “It is my belief that reading is an experience which goes beyond the pages of the book.” I couldn’t agree more – and she’s also a cat fan to boot 🙂 If you don’t already follow her, then you can keep up to date via her Twitter and Instagram feeds.
Louise and I chose a few Pinterest ideas (bird feeders, pine cones, and twig crafts) and these are the results of our picks.
Pine Cone Bird Feeders
I have to be honest, the original concept involved mixing suet and bird seed into some cookie moulds. And another option was to stuff the mixture into scooped out orange halves. Both of which seemed like a little too much hard work and I am lazy, so I went for pine cones instead (also, because Flora did this at Cubs earlier this year and I know it works!)
You will need some string, pine cones, peanut butter, a teaspoon, and some bird food. Tip: tie your string around the top of your pine cone BEFORE you apply peanut butter. Take my word for it, or feel free to find out the hard way why this is a good idea…
I found a teaspoon the easiest way to press peanut butter into the grooves of the pine cones without getting too messy. Try and get a really good coating on the cones, you want plenty of sustenance for the birds. Then you just need to roll your buttered pine cones into a dish of bird seed, press the seeds on firmly, and voila, quick and easy bird feeders, ready to hang up for your feathered friends.
The other good thing about pine cones is they’re reusable too, unlike orange halves, which will disintegrate. So you can keep topping them up throughout the winter.
Pine Cone Christmas Crafts
I found lots of cute pine cone gnomes and elves on Pinterest as well as some reindeer. Full of inspiration, I raided Flora’s crafts cupboard and settled down. Heads up, it did not go well. Pine cones and craft glue do not mix, it was virtually impossible to get things to stick. If I’d had a glue gun that would have probably worked better but, as usual, I left things to the last minute so didn’t have time to go out and buy one. Note to self: next year will be the year I get organised, oh yes.
Anyway, here are my gnomes, which look more like archbishops because I couldn’t get the felt to curl into a pointed hat.
And here are my Christmas mice. (They were supposed to be reindeer but Flora said, “Oh, Mummy, your mice are so cute!” so mice they shall be…) And one of them has already lost an eye, so I’ve decided he will be the Christmas pirate mouse.
Twig Christmas Crafts
There are so many ways to use twigs on Pinterest, but as our Christmas tree angel has very definitely seen better days, I thought I’d try making a star. It was surprisingly hard to find the right sort of twigs (even with an entire garden at my disposal) but here’s what I came up with. The trickiest part was tying the first two twigs together. After that, it all seemed to hold together fairly well. The red ribbon is for extra security too, not just my feeble attempt to pretty things up. I think our angel is safe for another year though.
Final thoughts on Pinterest Christmas Nature Crafts
Despite the end results not being what they were supposed to be, I had a lot of fun making these Pinterest Christmas nature crafts. The first lesson I’ve learned is that, as with Instagram, what you see on Pinterest is not necessarily what pans out in real life. The second lesson is to get started sooner rather than later as these kinds of things always take longer than you think. But I really enjoyed myself so a big thank you to Louise for asking me to collaborate. And do head over to Freddie’s Mummy for some more Christmas craft ideas if this has inspired you to have a go 🙂 In the meantime, my gnomes, mice, and star will hang on our Christmas tree in due course. And I’m guessing our garden birds won’t mind my lack of Pinterest artistry at all!
Have you ever tried to make your own Christmas nature crafts? Were you inspired by Pinterest? How did yours turn out?
Thanks for joining me for this collaboration, Lisa. Your crafts look adorable. I especially love the pine cone mice. I know exactly what you mean about things not turning out exactly as you expect. I thought the star would be simple, but lining up the right-sized twigs in the right pattern and keeping them still was tricky! Hope the results of your craft make you smile over Christmas. ☺️
Thank you for asking me, Louise, and for your kind words about my efforts! It was a lot of fun, albeit a lot harder than I thought it would be (except for my quick and easy bird feeders 🙂 ). Can’t wait to see how yours turned out now! x
These look great! I think your pinecones look pretty good, even if they’re not what you imagined.
I love the bird feeder idea, especially as you can top them up.
Cora | https://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
Thank you, Cora! I guess they still look festive, haha. And yes, we’ll be topping up the bird feeders in the next couple of days, I need to buy some more peanut butter first! x
Oh my gosh those bird feeders are so cute!! Such a great idea! I would never have thought to do that. I love Pinterest for all different ideas! I have never tried to make my own crafts, but this is such a good festive time to maybe give it a go! Thank you for sharing Lisa! Xx
TBH, I wouldn’t have thought of using pine cones for bird feeders either so I have Flora’s Cubs leader to thank for that tip! These crafts were a lot of fun but quite time-consuming, definitely a lesson learned for next time, haha xx
That is awesome! Yeah I might have to try it xxx
Yay, let me know if you do! xxx
This is such a fun collab, yay for Christmas creativity! I’m loving the pine cone crafts, the reindeer-mice are super cute! Your comment about the gnomes looking like archbishops made me laugh, it looked like a lot of fun even if they didn’t turn out like you expected. I think you could start a new trend with archbishop Christmas tree decorations! I love the bird feeder idea too, I never knew pine cones could be used in so many different ways! The star turned out really well too, very creative! I love that everything is easily found in nature, it shows that you don’t need to spend loads to have fun with Christmas crafts. Brilliant post Lisa, looking forward to see Louise’s now! <3 xxx
Aw, thank you, Bexa, you are so kind! If I’d started things sooner, then I’d have realised I needed to find templates and to have bought a glue gun. Next time! But yes, I don’t think you need to spend a lot of money on Christmas decorations, DIY can sometimes be a cheaper option, plus it’s a lot of fun – albeit slightly frustrating at times, haha! xxx
The bird feeder idea is great – although, I’m sure, has the potential to be messy. I’d end up with peanut butter all over, no doubt. Your pine cone mice are so cute as well. I love Pinterest for admiring ideas, but I’m not convinced I’d have the skill to pull them off. You did an awesome job, even if it wasn’t what you’d hoped!
Aw, thank you! I have to say, the next time I attempt any Pinterest crafts I will certainly research everything thoroughly beforehand and ensure I have a good glue gun, haha! xx
I absolutely love this collab, all of your crafts are brilliant! Pinterest is great for things like this isn’t? So many creative ideas, I could get spend hours and hours on there! I love the bird feeder idea and the pine cones are lovely! I’m not usually very good at crafty things like this but you’ve inspired me to give it a go! xx
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
Oh, thank you, Tiffany, what a lovely thing to say! Yes, Pinterest certainly is a wormhole but some of the ideas on there are just gorgeous. Just not as easy to create IRL haha, but still a lot of fun! Do let me know if you try anything too 🙂 xx
This was a lovely post Lisa. I really enjoyed seeing your Christmas nature crafts and I’ll be having a go at the bird feeders myself. I think your reindeer mice are cute.
Aw, thank you! It was such a fun collab to do, albeit a lot harder than I thought it would be, haha. The bird feeders are going down a treat at the moment though, I’ll need to refill them soon 🙂 x
awww this is such a good idea! I absolutely love the bird feeders – such a fun thing and I might make them with my nieces and nephews. The pinecone reindeer also look adorable – who knew there were so many uses for pinecones?! I’m going to check out Louise’s post now too to get some more Christmas Crafting inspiration!
Kate x
Thank you, Kate, I think the bird feeders would be lots of fun and very easy to make with children. And yes, pine cones + Pinterest = many hours of creative fun, haha xx
Ohhh this is so cute! I love the star, your photos look so festive – and I love the pirate mice! The bird feeders are such a lovely idea, and you’re right – stuff you see on Pinterest/Instagram is rarely as easy as it looks!
hels xx
Aw thank you, Hels! I must say, I’m rather attached to the pirate mice too now, although I was a little dismayed to start with, haha xx
Oh I like the idea of using pine cones for the bird feeders – I’ve seen the orange skin ones you described and always thought that wasn’t going to work, so thank you for the pine cone idea.
And someone else liked your craft ideas too because they chose to add this post to the BlogCrush linky for you. Hurray! Feel free to bob over and grab your “I’ve been featured” blog badge #blogcrush
Well, I have to thank Flora’s Cubs leader for the pine cone bird feeder idea, but I can testify it works brilliantly! And thank you for the #blogcrush nudge, I’ve updated my post now, yay!