Editor’s Note: This morning we have paper goddess Vanessa Falle on site creating some fabulously festive handmade paper pinecones. Get crafty:

I don’t know about you, but the holidays around our house wouldn’t be complete without a few new kid-made ornaments with which to decorate our already overburdened Christmas tree. I love how in my own collection, I can unwrap a felt hobby horse head (you know, the kind that goes on top of a candy cane) that I made in Brownies when I was six and be instantly transported to the very day I created it.

I love how handmade holiday ornaments seem to be like a time-travel machine into childhood. This month, we’re going to use a few very simple materials to create a lovely paper pinecone that can be easily reproduced over and over.

It is a beautiful uncomplicated ornament that is a wonderful addition to almost any tree – which makes it the perfect gift (think teachers, here people!)

Materials:

• foam balls (I used the 3″ diameter ones that come in packs of six at the craft shop),
• 1 sheet of 12×12″ holiday themed scrapbooking paper (not too thick or folding will be torture!),
• lots of tiny silver craft pins,
• an 8″ length of ribbon for the hanger,
• a 6″ length of ribbon for the bow,
• paper cutter,
• thimble (unless you have super tough fingertips),
• scissors,
• bonefolder, and
• pencil and ruler.

Method:

Starting with your holiday paper, cut it into 1″ strips. Once you have the strips, you can cut them into 2″ lengths (cut through several layers if your scissors are tough enough to handle it – time saver rather than doing each strip one by one).

Grab your pencil and ruler, and flip the paper strips so that the back side is face-up. Mark a tiny spot along one edge indicating the middle (this will be at 1″).

With the mark on the top edge, fold the bottom corners upwards to meet at the mark in the center turning the paper strip from a rectangle to a triangle.

Use your bone folder to make the crease super sharp and flat. You will appreciate having done this step once you start assembling your pinecone.

Once you’ve folded all your rectangles into triangles, you can begin assembling your pinecone. Begin with four paper triangles. Assemble them so that the center points all meet at one spot.

Be sure to anchor the triangles at all points. They may overlap along the outside edges. That’s totally okay. You won’t see that part when it’s all over.

Now you will start the next row. Align the next row with the bottom points of the triangles NOT ANCHORED and staggered from the position of the first pinecones (in other words, line up the bottom points of the second row of triangles with the seams between the first four triangles that are all pinned together, covering up the bottom of the foam ball)

Repeat this last step till you reach the middle of the foam ball. At this point, take your longer length of ribbon and pin it in place. This will create the hanger for your pinecone.

Pinch the top a little and pin (you’ll remove these top pins at the end, but this will help keep you organized!)

Continue applying the triangles all the way up the remainder of the foam ball until you cover as much as you can. Keep in mind that as you make your way around the ball from the bottom to the top, the paper triangles will fit differently but each new layer covers up the jagged, uneven edges of the row before it. Nobody will see it!

Once you’ve gotten all the layers onto your pinecone and the ribbon loop is poking out the top of the pinecone, tie the remaining piece of ribbon around the ribbon loop close to the pinecone base and you’re done!

Check out these links for more paper holiday decor projects that you can make with foam shapes and paper.

The poinsettia wreath is one of my faves!

-Poinsettia Wreath by Ronda Palazzari

-Paper Christmas Tree by TyAnn (try making it with ribbon too!)

-Paper Ornaments by Martha Stewart (if anyone knows handmade crafts, it’s Martha!)