Have you ever wondered what to do with all those little treasures you and your kids have collected over the years? The seashells and driftwood gathered at the beach, the pinecones collected from the forest floor on camping trips in the mountains, or acorns discovered on an afternoon walk?
I recently came across an oak tree near my office that’s dropped hundreds and hundreds of acorns. They weren’t the torpedo shaped acorns that the tree in my backyard produces, these are the lovely iconic shaped acorns that you think of when you think of an acorn.
What to do with these beauties? I decided to do something fun by turning them into a beautiful accent for my home. If you have an afternoon of time, a hot glue gun, and some twine you can turn a bag of acorns into beautiful ornaments for your Christmas tree, or use them in creative ways to bring a little bit of the outdoors into your home.
First you will need to gather acorns. Most of them will not have a cap attached, so be sure to gather caps as well.
You will want to separate the nuts from the caps. You can set aside the caps while you prepare the acorn nuts.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spread the acorn nuts out in a single layer on the baking sheet. It helps to use a rimmed sheet so the nuts don’t roll off and end up all over the bottom of your oven.
Bake the nuts at 200 degrees for about 2 hours. This will get rid of any little critters that might be lurking inside the nuts. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
Next you want to clean the powdery coating off of them. You want to remove this coating to expose the rich brown color of the acorns. Use a sponge that has the scrubber on the one side with a little water. It took a little time to clean each acorn but it was well worth the effort.
Once you have cleaned them and they are dry it’s time to glue the caps back on. Use your hot glue gun to do this.
At this point you are done. You can use them as filler in a glass vase, display them in a pretty bowl, use them in a fall inspired vignette, or scatter them on a tabletop.
To really bring put the natural colors of the acorns, paint them with a coat of clear nail polish. It’s not necessary to do this last step but it really enhances the natural beauty and brings out the color of each acorn. Plus it will help to preserve them so you can use them for years to come. I think it is well worth the extra step!
If you have collected a lot of acorns like I did, to make it easier, you can spread them out on a tarp and spray them with a clear lacquer varnish to achieve similar results in less time.
It’s also super easy to turn them into Christmas ornaments! Using some twine, make a loop and tie a bow to create a hanger. Attach it to the acorn cap with a dab of hot glue. Voila, an adorable little acorn ornament to hang on your Christmas tree or use on gift wrapped packages to add a little something extra special to gifts. So easy, so simple, and super cute!
They will work wonderfully with any autumn decor in your home. I scattered a handful on my Thanksgiving table and they looked lovely with all the warm fall colors on the table. They would also work well with a natural rustic Christmas theme. Think about how lovely they would look alongside some burlap ribbon and pinecone ornaments on a Christmas tree with white lights.
I just love how they turned out. I hope you give this project a try and share your results! I would love to see how your project turns out and hear about how you use them in your decor.
Did You Make This?
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