As you may know, we have embarked upon a journey to make little heirloom ornaments for our Christmas tree. We try to gather the materials from the outside world around us and work out ways to make them into sweet handmade Christmas decorations. I love watching my children delight in the knowledge that nature gives us so much. With Nature and a creative spirit, we can make enchanting ornaments.
As you may also know, there’s no shortage of acorns around here. Teddy was determined to make something that used ‘Yots of acorns!’ Kitty decided that we could make an acorn garland for our Christmas tree. I think this might just be my favorite Christmas creation yet!
To make our acorn garland we needed;
* acorns with caps
* string or yarn
* a drill
* a thick needle
* a hot glue gun
We started by separating the acorns from their caps. Acorns are designed to fall out of their caps and so we decided that sticking them into their caps was the best way to keep them from falling off our garland.
Once the acorns were separated from their caps, I drilled a hole through each acorn.
Then, Mr T worked out the puzzle of which acorn fitted into which cap and we hot glued them together.
Sometimes the caps wanted to slip over the holes that I had drilled so we double checked before gluing them on that the holes were showing.
Mr T threaded his thick needle with string and threaded the string through each acorn.
He was too sweet when he told Kitty that he was ‘sewing acorns!’
I was impressed at his perseverance. He threaded each and every acorn on the garland.
And was very proud of his hard work.
Voila! The most delightful Christmas tree garland ever. I can’t wait to string it around our Christmas tree.
Merry blessing and magic,
Donni
44 Responses
Acorns are my favorite. This is just darling.
What a beautiful idea!
I love it! We just gathered a ton of acorns on our last walk in hopes of finding some inspiration for Christmas. You just gave it to us! Thanks!
‘Sewing acorns’ – I love it. And I love your beautiful garland too.
What a lovely way to bring the outdoors in. Thanks for sharing.
this is perfect!
I LOVE this! I am going to go find myself some acorns stat! I admire how your son fitted the caps to the appropriate acorns. So sweet!
:)Lisa
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What a perfect idea. The acorn garland is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely going to try that myself. Thanks for sharing.
I love your site. Found you somehow and I’m glad I did! This is terrific! We share a lot of the same loves I see. I also have a site (FunInTheMaking.net)where I share crafts ideas (recycled materials) and nature stuff. Love your etsy crafts too.
Perhaps you wouldn’t mind if I link to you? Thanks again for shareing your magic. -Hester Jane
lovely idea!
lighttrigger.blogspot.com
your template is so nice…..////
the designs are very nice……me also want to design like this template
Bain Maries
THE BEST tree garland I’ve seen all year!! THank you!
*Off to Pin this!*
What a pretty garland, I love the brown acorns against the greenery, what a fun project!
That is utterly charming.
I just wanted to tell you how sweet this project is. I’ve been crafting with acorns for many, many years and my granddaughter is following in my footsteps. Just one note I’d like to pass on: I collect them every year, but have found out (the hard way) after storing them I had many little “visitors” in my acorn drawer. I baked them the next year, which seems to have taken care of the problem. I did this after removing the caps, and then glued them back on, just as you did.
I’ve never made a garland, so this is a welcome new addition; thank you for the idea!
Hi Maria,
Acorn crafting is so delightful… I’m a little addicted myself too :-)
Thanks for the baking tips.
Blessings and magic,
Donni
You are welcome!
I just collected acorns to use in some type of fall decor. I put them in the microwave to kill the worms that they are no doubt infested with. When I was teaching, the kids would collect them, leave them in their desks overnight and it the morning they would be horrified to find worms all over their things. The acorns got very hot and shiny after about 15 seconds but then came back to normal as they cooled. I’ve had no visitors.
Microwaving them, great idea and thanks for sharing! I was wondering about doing them that way, I appreciate your input with this and will certainly try it.
Thank you. Never would have considered little creepers. Any idea if I can drill acorns from the top?
I’d like to paint them and stack them on a wooden sticks for my centerpieces.
great idea and your helper is wonderful.i will be gathering acorns tomorrow and teach my grand children how to make this wonderful garland .thank you for sharing your ideas.
Would you be willing to elaborate a little more on how you drilled the hole in the acorns? I have found that part to be a little tricky. Maybe you have a better technique that you’d be willing to share! Thanks. I love your blog and your etsy page! It is my favorite, and my daughter’s too. Thanks for all of the great ideas.
HI Alisha,
We had no problem drilling the holes. Our acorns were fresh which makes them soft. And, I always make sure my drill bit is sharp. Hope this helps.
Blessings and magic,
Donni
HI Alisha..you could try putting a small piece of masking tape where the hole is going to be.This might hopefully
stop the drill from slipping & give you a better hold. Happy Christmas :-)
I love this I can’t wait to try it !
Hi Karen… I’d love to see a photo of your garland when it’s done :-)
xo Donni
Neat idea! I, too, would recommend cooking the acorns. Microwaving sounds better and faster than oven baking! Thanks for a great idea…looking forward to other ideas on your blog!
Cindy in GA
Hi Cindy, Great idea to microwave them.
xo Donni
I saw the craft using acorns and was glad to see your correction on baking them.Was wondering about that. I also wanted to know if anyone of you tried to use the colored lights by gluing clusters of acorns around them?? I think that would be a great idea. Anyone done this?
Courious
While in Indiana this fall I collected a bunch for grandson to make something with since he is into trees and nature. Brought them home to Oregon and laid them out in the sun to dry. The next morning there were only 2 left! The squirrels found them overnight except for 2 with holes in them. They were smarter than I!
What about worms…?
Hi Lisa,
If you are worried about little critters inside the acorns, try baking them first at a low heat for about 20 minutes… that should get rid of any unwanted inhabitants.
xo Donni
I love this garland idea! Quick question: how did you keep them from sliding around on the string? Did you glue them in place after they were strung? Thanks!
Hi Lindsay,
The string I used was thick enough to be tight in the holes I drilled… so they didn’t slide around. I would think a little dab of glue where the string comes out of the acorn would work well too, if you don’t have thick string.
xo Donni
This is helpful. Thank you!
I know it has been a long time since this was published, but I am wondering how you drilled the hole without putting your fingers in danger. We were thinking some kind of vise, but that seems like it would take forever. I tried setting them on wood and drilling them, but they move a lot. I have a brand new drill bit, so I know it is plenty sharp. Any help would be appreciated as I have maybe 15 lbs if acorns I have dried out and need to do something with soon! Thanks so much!
Hi Michelle,
I didn’t use any vise and didn’t hurt my fingers… but I do drill holes in acorns a lot so am totally used to it. I start the drilling on the slow setting and find that once the beginning of the hole is made, the acorn is pretty stable.
If you do have a vice, I’m sure that would help so much. How about wearing protective gloves too?
xo Donni
Thanks! I am sure I can do it with practice. I just needed to make sure you didn’t have another method. A vice seems like it will waste a lot of time! I will just give it a try! You lay the acorns down, like on wood, and hold them there, right?