Pine nuts have been used for making jewelry for hundreds of years by Northern California American Indians. Today, you can gather pine cones and harvest your own pine nuts to use for necklaces and other jewelry. After you gather pine cones and you remove the pine nuts, you can start cleaning them for future use. Here is the simplest way for beginners.

Step 1: Gather Materials

To begin, you will need the following materials:

pine nuts
course sand paper
large paper clip

Step 2: Sand the Pine Nut

To sand the pine nut, lay course sand paper on a sturdy, flat surface. While holding the sand paper, begin scrapping the end of the pine nut back and forth across the paper.

Step 3: Flatten the Ends

Continue until the end of the pine nut becomes flat, and you are able to see a cavity (or hole) which holds the meat of the nut. Once you complete one side, sand the opposite side of the pine nut to make each side uniform.

Step 4: Remove the Meat

To remove the meat, unfold one side of your paper clip, so the pointed side will fit through the pine nut. Stick the paper clip in the cavity to push the meat out on the opposite side. If either side of the nut is too small to fit the paper clip through, sand the pine nut down a bit more.

Step 5: Don't Leave Any Meat

It is important to completely clean out all the meat because bugs with find their way to your pine nut if any meat is left, so continue using the paper clip to remove all the meat by scrapping the tip of the paper clip around the inside of the cavity.

Step 6: Store Your Pine Nuts

Once you have completely sanded and cleaned your pine nuts, store them in a sealed container or baggie for future use.

Step 7: Jewelry Ideas

Pine nuts can be used to make necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Pine nuts can be used as their natural color or they can be cooked in a pan of oil over the stove top to become dark or black.

Tip: When selecting pine nuts for a project, choose pine nuts similar in size and color.