Beyond the turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, no Friendsgiving feast is complete without an on-theme tablescape. But before you blow your entire budget on decor you'll only use once, take the DIY approach instead. After all, very few things scream "fall" like the sight of pinecones — and Mother Nature has them for free. To make your pinecones really stand out, we teamed up with American Express (which recently launched its Cash Magnet® Card) for a super-easy DIY tutorial involving festive paint colors to create a cool ombré effect. Once your pinecones are done, you can use them as a cute way to display place cards. Watch the video above to see how it all comes together, then check out the instructions below to make the decor for yourself at home.
Materials
1 toothbrush
Pinecones
1 angled paintbrush
Acrylic paint (in three to four different shades of the same color)
Pinecones
1 angled paintbrush
Acrylic paint (in three to four different shades of the same color)
Instructions
1. Using a toothbrush, clean off any visible dirt on each pinecone.
2. Take your paintbrush and apply the darkest shade of acrylic paint onto the bottom 1/4 of one pinecone.
3. Apply the second-darkest shade to the quadrant directly above the darker shade.
4. Repeat with the remaining shades — dark to light — until you reach the top of the pinecone.
For small to medium-sized pinecones, we recommend using three shades. For large pinecones, use four shades.