I love the pine cones. When we lived in Hawaii, my dad asked me what he could bring that we couldn't get there. I told him to bring some pine cones from MS. When I opened the bag, they were all tight ones. I was a little disappointed and not sure what to do with them. I put one in the microwave and it steamed open. I then opened all of them and they looked like the pine cones I remembered. (I still have them).

Sandi, what great memory; thanks for sharing that!

And my thanks to huggergirl for sparking the memory!

OH Sandy.. I knew you were a plant nut... but to pack up and leave Hawaii... that's certifiable... pine cones or not...
very lovely pinecones... Tamara... BTW: it's all copying something now... just the personal touches make it new and individual...

Gordon,
The Air Force would have frowned on me trying to stay behind. We all had to come back. I do miss it. Here are just some of my MS pinecones. There's another bag. I can't believe they're over 30 years old and they still look great! I'm so glad I saw this thread. I would have forgotten them this year. It's still so warm that it doesn't feel like Christmas...except for the traffic!

Those are huge and beautiful

Wow...silly lil pinecones make such great memories...simple things make life great...funny thing is...I just love them ?

So glad I brought them up....Thanks all...Bubbles 30 years wow...amazing how they hold up.

Sandi I'm very impressed that you thought to nuke them to open them up! How did you ever come up with that idea?

They were "damp" when I took them out of the bag. I thought they might mold. I just experimented with one and it opened up, and also dried. They were already brown, not green. That was over 30 years ago, so I don't remember everything, but I do remember being tickled seeing that cone open up! What I didn't mention was that my dad brought a whole suitcase of pine cones!

An entire suitcase!!!!!???????!!!!!

So Sandi, it turned out a fortunate experiment. I love those --- they are the best kind!

Ive had unopened pine cones ..thought Hmm,but just being in the house they dried an opened...I was Pleased..the neibor has huge pine trees,thinking Id better go pick a bag full up..

Well here's a few pinecone food items... a pinecone cheese ball.. and some sort of cake item.... great crafty site... they have a pile of pinecone art things going on... you'd need a truck load of pinecones to make them all... and the better part of a few years to do so
http://pinterest.com/search/pi...

YUM-OH!

Great ideas for pine cones! Now, how do you find time to do them before Christmas???

Love that, Gordon!

When I went out to clean up after my doggies, I discovered a nice pine cone that had fallen off the very large pine tree behind our yard. Looks like this may be the year I collect them instead of putting them in the green waste container. More items to add to my "stash".

those are cool Gordon...I like the whole almond one... easier...