Rustic Christmas Ornaments

Putting an Aussie twist on this project, we substituted hard-to-find pinecones for good old gum nuts.

Materials

  • Gum nuts
  • gold and silver paint (acrylic or spray paint)
  • eyelet screws (from your local hardware store)
  • power drill
  • bar or craft clamps 9to safely hold the nut while drilling)
  • natural twine

Method

Step 1: Wash and dry the gum nuts
Step 2: Secure a gum nut with a bar or raft clamp (pictured below) and carefully drill small holes in the top of the gumnut.  Be sure you have a level surface to work on – we’ve used a wooden pallet on our deck.

Step 3: Screw the eyelet screws into the gum nuts. You can leave the gumnuts in their natural finish, or follow the next steps to paint them.

Step 4: Get creative with decorating! We broke out the gold spray paint, but you could use brightly coloured acrylic paints and glitter!

Step 5: String the ornaments with natural twine through the eyelets, and hang from your Christmas tree.  We’ve teamed some of our ornaments with store-bought jingle bells, but they’re also lovely just as they are!

Be sure to share your nature-based Christmas crafts with us by tagging us in your social media – #natureplaywa and #natureplaywachristmas !

We Acknowledge
Nature Play WA acknowledges the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation, as the custodians of the land where our team lives and works. We also acknowledge the traditional custodians throughout Western Australia and recognise the continuing connection of Indigenous people to their land, waters, sky, culture and community. We pay our respect to all Indigenous people of this land; ancestors, elders and young ones.