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Create a country setting for a ceramic house with pinecone trees and a Popsicle-stick picket fence. Painting and gluing are the only skills required in this fun family project, which should keep the kids happily occupied most of the afternoon.

You will need:

Acrylic paints in dark green and red
5 pinecones in various sizes (these range from 2" to 6" tall)
3/" x 3" x 3 1/2" block of wood
4 empty wooden or plastic thread spools in various sizes (these range from 1/2" x 1" to 1 1/2" x 1 1/2")
Red decorative wired berries
Small artificial red bird
38 popsicle or craft sticks
Purchased ceramic house and figurines (optional)
Glue gun
Pruning shears

If you make this project we'd love to see it! Just send your photos and comments to the editor and it may get published on this page!

What you do

Paint pine cones green, leaving hard to reach areas near centers of pinecones unpainted; let dry. Paint wood block and thread spools red; let dry. Glue a spool to the base of each pinecone, except the smallest one.

Remove wires from berries. Glue berries randomly to tips of tree branches. Glue red bird to top of largest tree. With pruning shears, cut 26 of the popsicle sticks horizontally in a high low high pattern, with one end of the first stick and one end of the third stick overlapping the ends of the second stick 3/8" (FIG 1).

Glue a half stick vertically on top of each overlapping end, centering middle of half stick in the lower horizontal stick (FIG 2).

Keeping bottom edges of sticks even, glue two more half sticks 3/8" from outer ends of the first and third horizontal sticks (FIG 3).

Glue nine half sticks evenly spaced between the four half sticks already in place (photo). Repeat step 5 to make a second section of fencing.

Make a third and fourth section of fencing - this time placing the second horizontal stick above rather than below the first and third horizontal sticks (low-high-low pattern).

Form a square of fencing, alternating high low high sections with low high low sections. Glue the 3/8" ends of each section to the sides of the half sticks closest to the ends of adjacent sections (FIG 4). Trim off excess glue.

paint the fence red; let dry. Place trees inside the fence; add a small ceramic house and figures, if desired (photo).