Acorn DIY

To create painted acorns, simply select your favorite acrylic paints and paint just the nut portion. Allow to dry and use them in crafts or display them on their own.

Simple fall decor is the best kind of fall decor in my opinion. So when I was doing my regular window Amazon.com shopping, I stummbled upon golden acorns for fall decor. They were so pretty, but the little lightbuld above my head went off! The kiddos and I can totally do that!

So the next morning we set out with a bag and our searching eyes. We found an oak tree just three blocks away with acorns spread out all over the park and we got to picking! We found big ones, small ones, one’s with tops ones stuck together (working on building Wesley’s vocabulary). By the time we got home and finished painting it was lunch time! Making it a morning filled lesson and craft. Plus, this project is basically FREE, and using nature means one less neon plastic thing to dump in a landfill.

When I see natural elements like acorns, gourds, branches and shells used in decor it makes my heart happy. Nature changes with the seasons, so all you have to do is look right out your window to see what natures intends to decorate with this time of year. For some reason, it’s been screaming ACORNS to me lately so I rounded up 25 acorn inspired DIY ideas to use in your home this fall that transition beautifully right into Christmas too! See the steps below to making your own golden acorns!

CLEAN

Before you just go and pick up some acorns from the ground and pop them in a vase, there are a few things you need to do to make sure they’re bug free!

First you need to clean the acorns to remove the dirt. I used a little bowl of water and some old rags to scrub the dirt off the acorns. Sort through the acorns and throw out any that have bug holes in them or show signs of rot! Bugs call weevils can still be inside the acorn, so we will still need to heat them up in the oven to kill anything inside.

If you want to make a bunch I suggest baking them as well. Bake in the oven for 2-3 hours at 200°F. Check them every hour or so and give them a little shake to prevent burning on the pan.

*If any of the caps fall off, use hot glue to put them back onto the acorns.

PAINT

I decided to hand paint with the kiddos but you can always spray paint or gloss for a more natural look. I picked gold while the kiddos chose their favorite colors (teal and blue). I use my favorite Martha Stewart gold acrylic paint you can find here. Again, if the tops fall off after painting you can hot glue them back on after the paint dries.

Decorate

I love how they turned out and how engaged the kiddos were. Below are my suggested books and activities to expand this craft into a learning experience for your kiddos! Let me know what you think and how yours turned out on Instagram.

Emily