Preserving Southern Magnolia seed-cones.

Hi, you all knowlegable people...

I am asking this for a woman I work with.

She has a big Mgnolia tree which is now full of those beautiful "cones" filled with red seeds the size of beans. The cone itself is the size of an avocado! She brought one in today and I got to see one close up. It is just beautiful!

She would like to dry or preserve them in some way (for decorative use later), but she wants the red seeds to stay where they are.
Can anyone help out with any advice? Some ideas come to my mind:

The glycerine in water method?
Allowing them to dry and then spraying some kind of sealer on it to keep everything together?
Letting them just dry naturally? However, most of the seeds would fall out.

If this should be in the Trees Forum, let me know, but I think when you are talking about preserving/drying, etc. it becomes a "craft" thing.

Thanks all, Gita