Pinecone Map Ornament

Some super famous and super awesome blogger ladies had a Pinterest challenge last week.  Admit it - we pin photos to our Pinterest boards all the time, but how often do we get around to making anything we pin? See what Sherry, Katie, Ana, and Erin came up with.  Such talent.

My entry:

Cute, right?

I'm always on the lookout for interesting Christmas ornaments.  And every time we're on vacation I have to pick one up.  So why not combine my two loves - ornaments and vacation? 

I decided to use maps of Hawaii as it is my absolute favourite place to be. I would go there every year  if I could.

Cutting out the leaves was the most time consuming. But actually putting it together took less than an hour.  Only one episode of True Blood.  (I'm only halfway through season 4 so don't tell me anything.) And I didn't have to go out and buy anything so it was essentially free.

You start with a styrofoam ball - you can buy them in multipacks from the dollar store. I think an egg shape would be cute too.  Using scissors, poke a hole in the top.  Cut a length of ribbon, fold it into a loop, and tie the ends in a knot.  Put a blob of glue into the hole and push the knot of ribbon in firmly.

I found a leaf shape online to use as a template and cut out leaves from my "Oahu Revealed" guide book. I cut out dozens of leaves, just randomly choosing areas on the maps that gave a good mix of land and water.  I also made sure to include some favourite spots we've visited. Don't worry, I'm not one to cut up important books, I have another copy.  As an aside: if you're going to Hawaii for the first time, the "Revealed" series of books are excellent.  Plenty of maps, detailed directions, and fun snippets of history. 

Glue the first leaf to the bottom of the ball to give complete coverage.  Mine didn't lay as flat as in the tutorial but it wasn't that bad and wasn't really going to be seen anyway.

Start gluing the top edge of each leaf onto the ball, starting at the bottom, and making sure that there aren't any gaps.  Give each leaf a slight upward curl with the scissors before attaching. Work your way up the ball making sure that the leaves go right to the ribbon. 

I glued a row of tiny foam beads around the ribbon to finish it off.

What do you think? 

I love it. 

And I love that every time I look at it I'm reminded of the most beautiful place on earth.