If you are lucky enough to have access to Colorado there are pinecones all over the place in the mountains. Spend a day looking for pinecones and make sure to dip them in water for a few minutes to remove probable small creatures and then bake them in an oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes. One, can also spray the cones with a shellac or varnish paint spray to make them shiny. This will also keep them lasting longer. There is another way of doing it where you dip the cones in water till they close but it takes a lot longer and is a lot more work. I like the look of the open cones but they should really be spray varnished first.

To make a natural pine cone wreath the following matericals will be helpful
- use a two or three D wire base, choose your size
- florist wire
- well of course lots of pinecomes
- nuts, ornaments, ribbon
- wire cutters
- gloves if you wish to protect your hands

Slip a loop of wire around the cones base at the lower leaves and twist leaving a long tail, Proceed to wire them to the base fitting them close together.

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Recipe Ingredients:

3 quarts popped popcorn
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
3 cups miniature marshmallows
3 tablespoons (1/2 of a 3-ounce box) lime gelatin dessert mix
Decorations: small red candies, jellybeans, red fruit leather, etc.
Cooking Instructions:

1. Spray a large mixing bowl lightly with cooking spray and place popcorn inside.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in marshmallows and gelatin dessert powder until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth. Pour over popcorn and mix well until coated.
3. Spray hands with cooking spray and press firmly to form into 9-inch logs and then bend to form ‘wreaths’.
4. Place ‘wreaths’ on wax paper. Press candy decorations onto wreath to decorate; add a ‘ribbon’ cut from fruit leather. Serve immediately or wrap individually in plastic wrap for storage. Add a ribbon tie to plastic wrap as a decorative closure.
Notes:
Yield: Serves 8 (5-inch wreaths)

Difficulty: Medium
Additional Comments:
Clean-up tip: Soak saucepan before cleaning.

Recipe Provided By: The Popcorn Board (www.popcorn.org)

Photo Credit: The Popcorn Board (www.popcorn.org)

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