Colorful Clay Acorns

There are some darling acorn inspired crafts that you can find on pinterest, or in blogland. 

A few weeks ago I thought it would be fun to do an acorn project with my girls, and add to my sparse fall decor. 

Originally, I thought we would collect full acorns - but that idea was quickly squashed when we got outside and found an oak tree.  The squirrels must have beat us to them, because all we could find were the lids!  After talking to some friends though, I'm glad that this is what we found because apparently the acorns can harbor worms :(-

We gathered about 100 of these pretty lids, and came home and gave them a bath in some warm water with a little bit of bleach in it.  I figured it would help to kill any little worms or critters still lingering on them...

Now, there are a million things you could do with the acorn tops.  These colorful caps would be a fun kid's craft.  And I have always thought that felted acorns are very beautiful!



We decided to go with clay, because it is inexpensive, and can be painted any color you want!

I got white Fimo clay, and made it go farther by rolling up little balls of foil, and wrapping the foil in a piece of clay to make the balls...

Then, I baked the balls of clay according to the instructions. 

The girls helped me paint all my clay balls different colors (usually they needed 2 coats each)...

Once the paint was dry, I hot glued an acorn cap onto each clay ball.  I would suggest making your clay balls smaller than you think is necessary, because it is easier (and cuter) to fit acorn tops onto smaller clay balls than bigger ones :)

After that they got a couple coats of clear sealing spray - which also helps make the paint more vibrant!

I have had them in a ball jar on the mantle, and now they are sitting in my darling new cranberry bog replica boxes.  Aren't they cute!?  On a complete side note, I highly recommend attending the Cranberry Harvest Celebration on Cape Cod, MA in the fall if you ever get the chance!

Well... I hope you are enjoying the last bit of fall before the winter sets in!  We've already had our first snowfall though...so fall is already feeling like a distant memory :) 

But you can still collect acorns - and do your own fun acorn craft!