Pine Cone Fireplace Bucket

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When you have a wood burning stove, you need containers for all of your accessories. One of the main things I wanted with our 500 square foot addition (we added on to our little cottage in 2009) was a fireplace. I had so much fun choosing the beautiful fireplace screen adorned with iron leaves. At the beginning of this year’s fall season I’m still enjoying my new toy. We already had a firewood holder and a bucket for ashes. I recently purchased an amazing Victorian lady’s boot matchholder from Ebay, but still needed something to hold the kindling sticks. I can’t wait to take a stick from my Pine Cone Fireplace Bucket and light our first fire.

Materials for the Pine Cone Fireplace Bucket

• 10 quart galvanized bucket
• Rust-oleum Metallic Rose Gold- cap indicates color
• Rust-oleum Metallic Silver- cap indicates color
• Rust-oleum Lagoon
• Rust-oleum High Gloss Yellow Ginger
• Rust-oleum 2X Ultra Cover Clear Gloss
• Apple Barrel Gloss- 20409E Black, 20408E White, 20354E Real Brown, 20366 Dark Gray, 20637E Hot Rod Red, 20651E Real Green, 21396E Sublime Lime
• brushes- 1/4 angle, 1/8 flat, small round, liner
• masking tape or painter’s tape
• clear tape
• ruler
• pencil
• colored chalk
• pine cone pattern- print mine below

Spray Paint the Fireplace Bucket

I don’t usually basecoat my hand painted items with spray paint. However, I wanted to try something different just for fun. Use masking tape to cover anything you don’t want spray painted. I covered the bottom metal edge of my bucket but allowed the handle to stay uncovered. Spray the bucket outside with Lagoon in short spurts. Spray splotchy spots of color with Rose Gold and Silver, then splatter with Yellow Ginger. I had different results with each of the buckets I sprayed. What fun! Don’t be afraid of the paint. You really can’t mess up on this.

Transfer the Pine Cone Design

Print the pattern above. Here is one way to do it: Right click on the pattern and choose save image. Give it a name. Double click on your image name (it should be in downloads). When it pops up, right click the mouse and hit print.

Rub colored chalk on the back of the pattern (I used red). Find the center of your pattern and the center of the bucket with the ruler. Mark both with a pencil. Match the centers, hold in place with a small piece of clear tape, then trace over the pattern with a pencil. When you remove the paper you will have a chalk pine cone pattern that can be easily wiped away once you finish painting.

It’s Time to Paint!

I used Gloss paints because Gloss and multi-surface paints tend to work better than regular craft paint when painting over a spray painted surface. They do cost more, but there’s nothing more frustrating than paint that doesn’t stick. Base the pine cones with several layers of Real Brown using the 1/4″ angle, allowing things to dry in between. You can use a blow dryer to hurry things along.

I like to look at the real thing when painting, if possible. Pine cones and needles are abundant around here. You can tie the pine cone to a chair with a rubberband, then turn it in different directions for each painted pine cone. Photographs are great substitiutes when the item you’re painting is unavailable.

First, paint the pine cone tips with a mixture of White and small amounts of Real Brown and Dark Gray using the 1/8″ flat. Then, swipe in a darker shade of the same paint mixture underneath the tips with the 1/8″ flat. Look at the dark areas of your real pine cone or photograph. Shade these areas with the 1/8″ flat and varying mixtures of Black, Real Brown, and Dark Gray. Paint the tree branch with the 1/8″ angle and a mixture of Dark Gray and Real Brown. Highlight with the liner brush. Paint small, White lines. Shade with Black and the liner brush.

Paint Black hairs at the top of each pine cone using Black and the liner brush. Highlight the tips of each pine cone by painting a White at the bottom of each tip. Make a little point in the bottom middle of each pine cone tip. I painted my design so that the light source was coming from the top, like the sun. My shading values are darker at the bottom of each pine cone and the highlights are lighter at the top.

Now for the fun part. Wiggle in a pine needle branch with a mixture of Hot Rod Red and Real Brown. Start painting needles with the liner brush and Real Green. Without rinsing the brush, add Black needles, then Real Brown, then Sublime Lime. I made a twirly at the end of each branch with Sublime Lime. Paint your initials and the last two digits of the year with White and the liner brush.

Protecting Your Design

Take the project outside and spray it with two coats of Rust-olem 2X Ultra Cover Clear Gloss. This spray is half the price of any acrylic spray found in the craft section.

You’re all done! Wasn’t that fun?

Happy Fall.

Kristie

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