A couple of days ago, Bryce and I were walking Reece to kindergarten and we noticed some acorns lying on the ground. Bryce picked them up and was playing with what he referred to as their “hats”. We collected quite a number of acorns in addition to the sticks that we pick up on a daily basis. (Bryce has to have a stick when walking his brother to and from school for some reason.) After playing with the acorns and sticks I started thinking about what we could do with them…
Acorns
Sticks/Twigs
Glue gun
Gold metallic paint
paint brush
vase
colored glass rocks
spray paint (optional)
After collecting the sticks we spray painted them with some spray paint we had on hand. I also chose a handful of acorns to spray paint too. (I used RUST-OLEUM Metallic All-Surface Paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze.) It’s hard to tell but the metallic spray paint adds a lovely sheen to the branches. If you prefer to leave your sticks natural, just skip this step.
I took the rest of the acorns and painted them with a metallic gold acrylic paint.
I could have stopped right here because these acorns are just beautiful with a light coat of the gold. You can see the green of the acorn peeking through – I think they are gorgeous!
After picking up Reece from school, he saw what we had going on and wanted to help paint acorns. I think he did a great job.
While the acorns and sticks were drying, I was figuring out how we could hang them from the tree. Many of the acorns were missing their “hats” so I made new hats using beads. The beads were so fun that I kept on going and you can see how they ended up looking. So pretty!
I started with a large bead and some string (I used braiding cord). I threaded the bead and then tied a knot. I continued threading beads until I achieved the length I wanted and tied a knot at the end to secure the beads.
I made several at a time. The color of beads is up to you. I let my kids help me with some and I did some on my own.
Next I needed to make a loop at the end so I could hang the acorns from the “tree”.
I used my trusty glue gun (yes I roll with the mini) and put a small dollop of glue on the top knot and folded over the cord and pressed it onto the glue dot.
Here are the acorns all ready to be hung on the tree. I ended up making 15 altogether. I think a really fun spin on this would be to use letter beads and make one for each member of your family with their name on it.
I used a clear glass vase from Dollar Tree and threw in some colored glass rocks and also some of my painted acorns. It’s unbelievable when the light hits it – I just love pretty things!
Here are some more pictures of my acorn tree for you to enjoy. I hope you will send me a picture of yours if you make one. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Carrie says
Love this! So awesome – I’ve been looking for something to do with the acorns my son and I collected. Your newest follower, Carrie
June Scott says
Great idea, Trish! Love the jeweled “hats”! This reminds me of our egg trees as Easter. Mom would always bring in a large branch from outside for us to hang our decorated eggs on… now I have store bought trees… I think I like the natural ones better. We have lots of acorns here, too…I’ll have to gather some!
Carrie says
Finally, something exciting to do with acorns! Great tutorial!
Kids craft ideas says
Great tutorial! i love it, thanks for sharing
Elise Engh says
What a beautiful tree- and it’s so unique! I love this idea. The acorns look great with the metallic paint.
http://growcreative.blogspot.com
Melanie @ bear rabbit bear says
How pretty. Painting these turned out so well. Thanks for linking to Things I’ve Done Thursday.
Melanie
bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com
ladywiththeredrocker says
These are so cute! Love how they turned out! Nothing says fall like acorns! I made some acorn necklaces on my blog a couple of weeks ago. Check them out if you like.
Stephanie @ Ladywiththeredrocker.wordpress.com
Brandy J. says
I just found your blog and am your newest follower. Thanks for creating such a fun blog full of inspiration. I love your project — so simple and cute!!
Tonia @ TheGunnySack.com says
Super sweet acorn tree! I am kind of obsessed with all things acorn this fall!! Thanks for joining last week’s What’s In The Gunny Sack? link party and I hope to see you again for tomorrow’s party!
Erin of HomeSavvyAtoZ.com says
Hi Trish!
Your acorn tree tutorial is a feature at this week’s Savvy HomeMade Monday blog party as one of the most popular posts from last week. Feel free to pick up a feature button here: http://www.homesavvyatoz.com/buttons/
Thank you for partying!
Lori says
Beautiful!!!
sharon@fromragstorainbows.blogspot.com says
Love it! What a great project to share with your kids! Very pretty, too!
Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made says
These are just lovely!!
Promosyon says
I make something similar, but I’ll have to try your version. Plan to make same this in rainbow colour before Christmas.
E @ Act Fast Chef says
How pretty!! Stopping by from Happy Hour Projects. Love the name of your blog 🙂