This article is reposted with permission from Spool & Spoon.
This whole fall decoration idea came about when I ran across this tutorial for an Acorn Garland at These Light Footsteps. It’s a super cute fall craft, and I had all intent to actually make it. I thought I’d probably glitter the acorns because what crafty girl doesn’t love glitter? The problem arose when I ventured out to collect acorns from the only oak tree in the neighborhood. Well, it seems that the squirrels and chipmunks beat us to it because there were only a couple of whole acorns left; what remained was just caps. Bummer!
I put on my thinking cap and felt (pun intended) that some felted acorns might look even cuter instead. I love felt. Like, I really love felt. Not the cheap felt you used in elementary school, but the handmade felt that is made one batch at a time. The mister got me a needle-felting kit for my birthday (he knows me so well), so I set to work creating the little nuts.
Materials:
Instructions:
- Mix the water and soap in a small cup.
- Smear a small amount of soap/water onto the Bubble Wrap.
- Tear off a small piece of roving. (I used two colors to add dimension to the finished acorns.)
- Roll the roving up on itself to create a small cocoon.
- Tear off the second piece (can be the same or a different color).
- Line the pieces up perpendicularly and roll them up together.
- Roll this piece between your hands lightly until an actual ball has formed.
- Apply some tacky glue to the inside of the acorn cap.
- Stick the felt ball inside and you’re done.
You could always cheat by using pre-made felted balls if you really wanted, but your hands smell awfully nice after handling all of the dish-soap-soaked wool. All in all, the finished acorns are the perfect combination of whimsy and natural.
In order to get your garland started, gather all of your acorns as well as a spool of twine. I used a combination of both real and felt acorns for a bit of variety but one or the other would be fine.
Tie a knot around the stems on the caps. The nice thing about twine is that, even with a relatively loose knot, the texture keeps everything in place just as it should. I didn’t have to use hot glue to hold them in place, but that’s an option if your caps don’t have large enough stems attached.
Continue tying the acorns on, one by one, until you’ve tied them all. I spaced them about 3 to 4 inches apart. In total, my garland ended up around 5 feet long.
Once Hallowe’en has passed and November starts, I’ll hang it up in the dining room. I think the natural tones and textures will be perfect alongside my monochromatic pumpkins. Even strewn across the table, they look great so, who knows, maybe I’ll be lazy and just do that instead. It’s such an easy fall decoration!
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You can see more photos of this project by visiting my original post at Spool & Spoon.
