acorn wreath

Back in March I saw this wreath made of acorns on Pinterest and thought - hey, I have a lot of acorns outside in my yard...why not? I ventured out to collect. And collect. And had Hannah helped me collect. {Preemptive warning here: the project takes a LOT of acorns.} I followed the steps online, making my own adjustments where needed, and did my own acorn wreath. Now I'm finally getting around to posting about it...perfect time for fall. Acorns are falling as we speak in my neighborhood.

If you want to make one too, here are the materials needed:

acorns
straw wreath
glue gun (and lots of glue sticks)
spray paint (primer + color) - optional

Step 1:  Gather

Because of the time of year in Georgia (March), there was a good bit of pollen on my acorns. Right now you probably don't have that problem.

Also, it took many more acorns for my wreath because my acorns were small (in comparison to the big olive-like ones I saw on Pinterest).

Step 2:  Rinse

Just used a plain-old colander and washed a little at a time to get all the pollen, dirt, bugs, etc. off.

Step 3:  Dry

You can just pat them dry but Hannah and I set them outside on a towel in the sun to dry while we played on the swing set.

Then I got my helping hands to collect them.

Step 4:  Bake

I do not have a picture of this part, sorry. Just line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and bake the acorns for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. This is crucial to kill any organisms that may be living inside some of those acorns. You do not want bugs crawling around...

Allow them to cool.


The acorns sat like this for a long time - in my kitchen, in my dining room, and in my living room. They certainly don't need to, but I couldn't find the time to actually start the making of the wreath portion of the project.

Step 5:  Unwrap plastic from your straw craft wreath.

{Finally started mine on April 28, a month and a half after acorn collection. See the curious little head on the other side of the table?}

Step 6:  Glue

Start gluing the acorns in little rows. A design will take shape and it may go a little differently than you plan because the acorns are not uniform. That's ok, just keep gluing. I recommend using plenty of glue. I tried to skimp at some points because my glue stick was running low and have since had to re-glue several acorns back on.

This is as far as I got on Day 1.

After Day 2:

This should be a 2-3 day project...unless you have little ones at home. Then it's more of a 2-3 week project. This is where I was on May 4:

Another trip to the store for more glue and some uninterrupted time to sit, I finished gluing about one month later.

Step 7:  Prime

Priming and painting is optional. The wreath looks great natural, but I wanted a painted look. I recommend using a primer for better coverage. I think I used one can of primer and two cans of paint.

Step 8:  Paint

Admire your work:

Step 9:  Hang

My little 3-day DIY project started on March 10. I hung this wreath on my front door at the end of May. But there it is! And I don't mean to scare you; I'm sure you could do this a lot faster than me!