It’s May! It’s May! The lusty month of May! Will & I saw Camelot a few years ago in Boston and loved it – that song is my second favorite. My favorite is C’est Moi… I root for Lancelot in all the Arthurian literature (which disturbs Will greatly). Honestly though, who can beat that picture of chivalry? But I digress… May. Flowers blooming, eggs in nests, bees collecting nectar, the world awake in fertile force following the sleep of winter.
Though we didn’t cease our hikes with Dany during the winter, everything look so different in the spring. Even our favorite trail is almost unrecognizable with the budding foliage and lush ground cover. Today we hiked a trail we’d never taken before along the Nashua River. It was picturesque! And I found the tiniest most perfect pinecones! Will laughed at me while I collected some for future projects – one of which I’ll share today. I found some pinecones so tiny that I thought I could make a necklace out of them! And since this discussion of May and Camelot clearly dredged up your pagan curiosities I thought you should know that the pinecone is the perfect May talisman!
Pinecone (Talisman?) Necklace
You will need:
- 1 tiny pinecone
- gold thread
- 2 colors of embroidery floss
- string (I used kitchen twine)
- gold leaf paint
- 2 crimp closures
- clasp
- super glue
Tie string, 2 pieces of gold thread, and 2 colors of embroidery floss (all strands) together. Tape bundle to the table. Take one color of embroidery floss in your left hand and all the other threads in your right. Loop the embroidery floss over the bundle of string then up through the loop it forms.
Loop thread over bundle of threads and under and through the hole created
Pull tight against the knot. Continue this process moving the knots slightly right every time to form a raised spiral around the ring.
Pull string taunt
Alternate colors by simply adding the floss in your left hand back to your right and moving a new color to your left hand. Continue until you have a long enough length of necklace. Knot the other end.
Paint the pinecone with the gold leaf as you desire. I painted one third of it gold to give it a bit of shimmer. Let dry.
Paint a portion of the pinecone using gold leaf
Drill a thin hole in the top of the pinecone about 1/4 inch deep. Fill with superglue then insert a hook. Let dry.
Drill hole into pinecone
Using the crimp closures, crimp on top of the knot on each side of the necklace. Add clasp.
Add end clamp over knots in necklace cord.
Insert a ring on the pinecone charm and add to necklace.
Enjoy!
Pinecone Necklace
