Acorns are fun to collect and use in various craft projects. I had collected quite a few and decided to make rustic Christmas ornaments with them. Since I also had a small collection of little tin buckets, I figured a bucket of acorns would make a cute ornament. These acorn Christmas ornaments are an easy way to incorporate nature and a bit of rustic silver into your Christmas tree decorations. Make just one or several to adorn your whole tree
Once you collect all of your acorns, bring them home and wash them and dry them thoroughly. Before you use any natural acorns in a craft project, though, you will want to dry them in an oven. This removes any of the moistness that could cause mold and odor. It also assures that any living organisms inside are killed off. This sounds kind of gross but anything from nature could possible have an insect and you don’t want to run that risk. I also check for any small holes in the acorns and discard those right away as this is a likely sign of a problem.
To dry your acorns, simply put them on a cookie sheet in the oven, at a temperature of 200 degrees, for a couple of hours. They are now ready for your craft project. You may also want to check out my post on preparing acorns for craft projects.
How To Make Acorn Christmas Ornaments
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Materials Needed
- small tin buckets
- 7 or 8 small dried acorns – find your own or purchase
- metallic gold acrylic paint
- paint brush
- glossy varnish
- glamour dust
- snow-tex
- paint brush or putty knife for snow-tex application
- floral foam
- tacky glue
- E6000 craft glue
Instructions
1. Cut some floral foam to fit inside your bucket, filling almost all the way to the top. Apply some tacky glue to the bottom of the bucket and then insert your foam. The foam should fit tight.
2. Use a paint brush or small putty knife to apply Snow-Tex to the top of the floral foam. Make sure to cover completely so that all you see at the top of the bucket is the snow. Let dry for about two hours.
3. While the Snow-Tex is drying, paint the brown ends of your acorns lightly with the gold metallic paint. Let some of the brown show through. Let dry.
4. Mix some glossy varnish and glamour dust together. Apply this mixture to the whole acorns. Not only will it seal and protect the acorns but it will also give them a nice glittery sheen that is perfect for some holiday sparkle.
5. Once the acorns are dry, you can apply them to the snow at the top of the bucket. I first used tacky glue, but the acorns seemed a little wobbly so I added in some E6000 craft glue and there is no budging them now!
6. To finish the look off, you can tie a little raffia or ribbon around the bucket and that is it! The bucket can hang from a Christmas tree from it’s handle – simple Simon!
