While I collected them Lucy sniffed around, and pulled on her leash whenever she saw something interesting, like oh say a squirrel- also collecting acorns (which I think resulted in me dropping more than I ended up taking home).
Nevertheless I collected a nice little pile.
It had been a long time since I'd collected acorns and on the drive home I started remembering how much fun I had crafting with them when I was a kid. That got me thinking about what else I do with them besides felting.
But first, I'll show you how to make the felted ones with the little wool balls I showed you how to make last week.
You only need acorn caps for this project. Add a little glue around the edge of the cap and attach it to a wool ball.
Pretty simple but boy do they look cute. Especially when you get a lot of them piled into a jar or bowl!
I also painted some of the acorns teal using craft paint. Once the paint was dry I sealed them with an acrylic matt finish. Bright green and teal are two of my favorite colors...
but they don't really say autumn.
I wanted something that would feel more autumnal but still match the teal, cream and brown in the living room. I have a lot of silver accents in there too, so I thought silver acorns might be nice. This time I used a sharpie paint marker, which I have to tell you was much quicker than using craft paint and a brush.
The last idea I had was to try decoupaging them. I had a tiny little oak leaf punch that I thought would be perfect! The acorns I collected were a mottled greenish brown so the first step was to paint them a deep chestnut color. Once the brown was dry I painted them with a basecoat of Mod Podge and let that dry. Then I podged the little leaves (which were punched out of a metallic copper paper) all the way around each acorn.
Finally I added another coat of Mod Podge to seal.
As much as I love bright colors I think these ones turned out to be my favorites.
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39 comments:
Love the metallic leaves!! Are all of those the balls ones you felted in the container?
Molly
Hi Molly,
Thanks for the comment. Yes the felted acorns are the little wool balls I felted in the container
Cute as always! I like the felted ones, too! I have made acorn frames - love the look. It's from Martha stewart. You glue the caps on a stained wooden frame - so pretty!
Thanks Jane. Those frames sound gorgeous! And like something that you could keep around for more than fall- it would have a nice woodsy feel.
I'd love to make some, but I probably could only make them if I intended to give them away as gifts. Otherwise the cats would eat them! They chew on everything.
OK you genius person! These are beautiful! I never thought I would see the day that I would be thinking of making acorns! YOU are a crafty temptress!
Oooo you should play with acorns! It seriously brought me back- I had totally forgotten how much fun they could be.
I can so see you doing some like your gorgeous gourds or hmmm zentangle versions!
Hahahahaah! All I need is another project right now!
BUT my sweetie just informed me he knows exactly where to go to collect acorns. I am doomed.
I'm loving the decoupage leaf acorns! Beautiful! I've done a little experimenting with acorns too, but the tops always fall off. Did you glue the tops on first, or does the modge podge alone keep them on?
Thanks Elise- and that's a really good question! Some of the tops fell off while I was cleaning them and those I glued back on. But it's been a long time since I've played with acorns, and I hadn't considered that with time more of the tops might fall off.
These are adorable! I made some felted acorns this week too! I've been wondering what else to make with my acorns because I have about a million in my yard!!
Thanks Tonia! I wish I had some in my yard because now my head is swimming with acorn ideas...
Zentangled
Painted white then colored with sharpies
oh and little jack-o-lanterns, I posted them in a roundup last year on my Halloween blog:
http://www.megaspooky.com/2010/10/pumpkin-roundup-aka-my-pumpkin.html
I love these, saw you at someday crafts. I shared my acorn jewelry this week made with real acorns. I would love for you to share this at my linky that runs fri-mon.
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
come srut your stuff
You are a genius! What adorable acorns.
I would love for you to post this on my Fall In Love linky party today.
These look fabulous! Very festive and resourceful. :)
I'm glad I found your blog and look forward to following your creative posts and projects.
P.S. I think my readers will enjoy this project so I posted it on my blog at:
http://adesiretoinspire.blogspot.com/
oh my goodness, these are the cutest! my faves are the felted ones! great job.
i would love for you to come link up this or any other amazing project at my creativity party going on right now!
letbirdzfly.blogspot.com
thanks so much for sharing!
Adorable!! I saw these floating around on Pinterest this week :) Very cute!
Thanks everybody for visiting and leaving comments! I love reading them.
Love it! I have been collecting acorns to use for fall decorating love the metallic leaves!!1
Your acorns are lovely, I think I'm going to try to incorporate some of them into my Thanksgiving table arrangement. They really would add a touch of whimsy.
I can't tell you how much I love these! We don't have nice big acorns around here. If we have any at all, they are teeny.
LOVE THEM! Very cute idea...thanks so much for the share! Going on a nut hunt now! LOL Pop Art Minis
Thanks for all the comments! If anyone makes some acorns I'd love to see pictures.
Debbie- I also was only finding small acorns at first. I was beginning to think that maybe I was remembering acorns being bigger than they were because the last time I collected them I was small but after a little while i found two big trees in the park with huge acorns all over the ground below. I don't know if it's the size of the tree or the type of oak tree but they were much bigger than the others!
very cute! Can I ask where you buy your felt roving? I can't find it anywhere!
Hi Kelly, I get all my roving from New England Felting Supply. They are pretty local to me but they have a website- http://feltingsupply.com
Adorable! I agree that the mod podged acorns are the best!
Meg, I love these so! How fun!
thank you!
Thanks Amy and Kelly
I'd be hard pressed to say which style is my favorite. I love the colors of the felted acorns, but the decoupaged ones are beautiful too!
Your decoupaged acorns are just beautiful ! I live just across a small wood and I am off to gather acorns !!!! Thanks for the clever idea !
I'm new to this, how do you do the punched leaves?
Thanks Marie-Anne! I'd love to see pictures of how yours turn out.
Julie- I used a small paper punch to make the leaves.
Hi-Just wanted to let you know I featured you as one of my favorites of the week!!
cute!!!!
hi- I just came across your blog when I followed a pin of your painted acorns on Pinterest...Anyway, I noticed that your felted balls start off round and then some of the ones with acorn tops are a little pointed on the bottom. Once it's felted, is the wool easy to sort of 'mush' (for lack of a better word) into that shape?
Thanks! Christina
Hi Christina,
Thanks for following the pinterest link and visiting my blog. The sort of pointy end really just comes from mushing the little wool ball into the acorn cap. I didn't try to reshape the wool at all. Happily, they just end up looking that way!
Thanks- I'll let you know how mine come out :-) I've only felted wool that I've knitted before, but this way looks nice and easy- so off to the park tomorrow we go to look for acorns!
super cool!
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