How a pine cone works
The woody cone most people picture is the female, seed-bearing cone of a conifer. Pines also grow small, soft pollen cones that shed in spring and fall away. Each scale of a seed cone holds seeds at its base, and the scales open as the cone dries to let winged seeds drift out, then close again in damp weather, which is why a pine cone on a windowsill makes a rough humidity gauge. Shape varies a lot by species. Eastern white pine grows long, slender, slightly curved cones; sugar pine carries the longest cones of any conifer; stone pine grows round, heavy cones whose seeds are the pine nuts used in pesto. Spruce cones hang down from the branches. In Maine, the state flower is officially the white pine cone and tassel.
Cones from several trees and seasons
The set covers the shapes and settings crafters ask for most. There are classic cones standing upright and lying on their side with open brown scales, a cone on a short evergreen sprig with green needles and one with a small tuft of needles at its base. Species shapes include a large sugar pine cone with wide scales and a round, compact stone pine cone, and a long, slender cone is painted frosty white for a whitewashed look. A young, closed cone in green and brown shows how cones look before they ripen, and a winter cone has snow on the tips of its scales. Each cone is painted alone, not in a pile or wreath.
One motif from October to January
Pine cones belong to two seasons at once, which makes them some of the hardest-working art in a holiday kit. In fall, use the plain brown cones on harvest festival flyers, Thanksgiving place cards and menus, rustic fall wedding invitations and cabin rental listings. In December and January, switch to the snow-tipped cone and the cones on green sprigs for Christmas cards, gift tags, winter market posters, ski lodge menus and winter wedding stationery. Teachers can use the open and closed cones for lessons on seeds and how conifers spread them, and nature centers can use the species cones on tree-identification walks. Craft fairs and holiday markets selling pine cone wreaths, fire starters or scented cones can use the art on booth signs, price tags and product labels across both seasons without redesigning.
Browns, needle green and snow white
The palette is warm brown and tan with green needles on some cones and white snow or a frosty finish on two, and the palette panel on this page lists the matching HEX codes and DMC floss numbers for each image. Brown cones balance bright holiday colors: set them beside red holly berries for Christmas, or under an oak tree with scattered fall leaves for autumn. Holiday sets are gathered in the Christmas hub, and seasonal fall art in the autumn hub.
A place card that works for two holidays
Build one place-card template and swap the cone. Put a plain upright or lying cone on the left of a folded 3.5 x 2 inch card for Thanksgiving, then replace it with the snow-tipped cone or the cone on a green sprig for Christmas dinner, keeping the same font and layout. At that size the cone only needs to be about 1.25 inches tall. Each file is a 2048 x 2048 px transparent PNG, about 6.8 inches at 300 DPI, so it also covers a full card front. The round stone pine cone fits a circle sticker or a round ornament blank with almost no trimming.