GET RID OF THE BUGS
If your project needs brown pine cones: wash pine cones as you fill a bucket with water. Add 1 cup of white vinegar to the bucket and then submerge pine cones. Wait 30 minutes and then rinse. Pat each pine cone with a paper towel to remove excess moisture, and then lay them out on a couple of sheets of newspaper (for approximately three days to dry completely.
If your project needs white pine cones: wash pine cones as you fill a bucket with an equal part of water and chlorine bleach. (Ensure you do this in a well-ventilated space and be careful not to use a bucket that has been used with ammonia, or products with ammonia in them!) After the desired color has been obtained, rinse pine cones well and then dry in the sun.
OPEN THE SCALES
Pine cones will open their scales when they are completely dried. To speed up the process of opening the scales, and to help remove remaining sap, preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place pine cones on a tinfoil-lined cookie sheet for 30 minutes. (Make sure to supervise them while they are in the oven. Over-dried cones can catch fire and sap can seep over the edge of the pan and burn.) Once your pine cones have completely opened, and the sap has melted, remove them from the oven and let them rest for a day or two.
COLOR OR PRESERVE
You can color or preserve your pine cones by spraying them with a water-based acrylic or an oil-based polyurethane. Both come in varying colors and finishes. Polyurethanes usually require more time to dry, so be sure to keep this in mind.
By Rachel Sikkema
