Supplies needed:
Acorn tops
Wool for felting
Felting needle
Foam felting pad
Hot glue gun
I have a carpet of acorns on my lawn every autumn.
I bet you do too!
If so, don't throw all of them away during your fall clean-up.
Instead, gather a lot of the acorn caps for this fun project!
Acorn caps come in all shapes and sizes. Many are single caps, but you may also find two, three or even four caps on a single stem.
Often the acorn caps are damp after being in the grass, so it is a good idea to dry them out in a warm oven (200 degrees F) so they don't get moldy when in storage. After they are dry, you can also spray them with polyurethane to help preserve them, but this is optional.
To make felted acorns, you need wool.
I get mine online at Felt Alive.
You also need a felting needle.
Felting needles are not smooth needles. They are made with tiny barbs on the sides so they pull the wool fibers together.
A foam felting pad is also nice to use so your needle can go all the way through without hitting a hard surface.
All supplies can be purchased at Felt Alive. Your local craft store may have felting supplies, but probably not the variety that online stores offer.
First, take a roll of wool and pull off a small bunch to make one acorn.
You don't need to be exact. You will be making a lot of them, and the acorn caps vary greatly in size. After they are done, you will match the wool acorn body to the right size cap.
With your fingers, form the wool into a pretty firm ball.
With the ball resting on the foam pad, poke the felting needle in and out,
moving the wool around so you hit all sides. As you do this, you will notice the wool begin to stay together as the barbs of the needle do their work to connect the fibers. Be careful not to poke your fingers with the needle - it hurts!
When you're done, the ball will look like this. It will still be airy at this point, but definitely holds its shape.
Keep going and make a lot of wool balls of different colors, some smaller and some bigger.
I find it's easy to do this while I'm watching TV at night.
After you have a lot of balls made, the next step is to wash them.
I like the put them in a mesh bag so they stay together in the washing machine. If you don't have a mesh bag you can also put them inside socks.
Using laundry detergent, wash them in hot water for a normal cycle. It's good to put them in with other clothes because the friction helps with the felting process.
When the wash is done, take them out and you will see that they have been felted.
They will be smaller and much more dense. If you want, you could put them in with another load of wash to felt them even more.
After washing, I spread them out on a towel to air dry. If some of them are misshapen, it is easy to squeeze them back to the right shape when they are wet. You might want some round, and some with a more oval shape.
After they are dry, get out your hot glue gun to put them together.
Match the balls to fit the acorn caps. Put a glob of hot blue into the cap and push the felted ball inside.
I displayed mine on a wooden platter in the center if my dining room table last winter. They are very attractive and made me happy whenever I looked at them!
You can also buy these already made on Etsy, but you're going to pay about $2.00 for a single acorn!
Here are some variations that I found on Etsy.
The acorn tops were sprayed with a glitter paint.
Twine was attached to make hanging ornaments.
I hope you likes this tutorial and make some yourself.
They also make great gifts!
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