I'm not sure where I saw this (probably here!) but you soak the tiny pinecones in water until they close up, then slip them inside of a clear, glass ball. I use around 7 pinecones in each ball. Then, put them in the oven on low heat (about 250) until the pinecones open up again. I put them in muffin tins so that the opening will stay at the top to let the moisture out. Replace the cap and glue a bow at the top of the ball. Kids are curious as to how you got the pinecones inside the balls without breaking them since they will be much larger than the opening of the ball when they open up.

If you don't want to spend the money on clear, glass balls, you can make your own. I get the old, nasty looking colored balls at Goodwill. Soak them in water to remove the colored cellophane. Then, soak them in bleach water to remove the metallic stuff inside the balls. Most of it will come off if you shake the bleach water around inside the balls. You can make a brush out of pipe cleaners to help remove stubborn spots. Rinse, then let dry. (The insides don't have to be dry before you put the pinecones inside since they are wet too.)

My kindergarten teacher used to make stockings for her classes out of shrinky-dink plastic with the students' names on them. My brother and I still have ours and we are 36 and 38.

Good luck with your project!

The pinecone idea sounds so neat! I don't think we have any pinecones that are small enough, though.
Thanks for the great idea.

One of the cutest ornies one of my kids got from a teacher...many years ago, was a snowman head, made from a cotton round. The kind you use for taking off makeup or nailpolish. Since then I make them every year for the grands and put the year on the back of the hat.

You get 50, 80 or 100 rounds in a pkg! For each round, I cut two black felt hats. Run a small bead of tacky glue around the hats ....all but the bottom of the brim. Slip the hat a little less than 1/3 the way down on the cotton round. Then glue to the round. Paint on a face. I have even used marker for the eyes and mouth...just black dots but always use orange puff paint for the nose. These are sooooo simple but every year when I go to the kids houses...there are the snowmen..right in the front!

I tried to google..cotton round snowmen, but only came up with one with a hat made from a babysock.

Hope this helps.

If you can find some small styrofoam balls about 1 or 1 1/2 " and kind of crush them into a Hersey;s candy kiss then cover with foil. Prepare a strip of paper to stick in saying Merry Kissmus!!

Same idea as the pinecones, but popcorn. Put about 15 kernels in a glass ball and zap in the microwave until it's nearly full of popped corn. Buy a few extras as you may have a little bit of breakage. Then shake out any unpopped kernels, stuff in a few red berries (fake ones) put the metal top back on and tie a red bow on top and add a bit of greenery. Done! These last for years and years, btw.

You guys are great! Thanks!