I never was able to find anything that resembled an acorn during my last hunt for nature’s art supplies while up north. I had a lot of fun searching though.

Even though I didn’t find anything that looked like acorns I knew I had a stash of some I found a year ago on one of my trips out in the woods. There are Oak trees everywhere up north and usually they come with a creek or river near by. That is an added bonus when out exploring. I love being near water.

This post is a little behind since I got busy painting and updating our master bedroom this week. It would have been nice for Thanksgiving table, sorry about that. I am still working on that room too. Looks like I did it once again, adding to much to my already full plate.

The acorns I am making come in all colors which would look pretty displayed all year if you like. Anyway most of these outdoor photos I am sharing with you are from only a couple weeks ago. By the time you read this post, if you aren’t out Christmas shopping, these spots I am sharing with you today will be covered with snow by night fall. A storm is headed in and it is suppose to be a big one. Here in the desert we get mostly flooding and rain but up north they get ice and snow. Arizona is a pretty big state and it covers a lot.

Last year when I came across some acorns while we were up north at Our Little Red House I didn’t realize they were acorns. Growing up around cacti I don’t know what acorns really look like in nature, except from what I see in books and the faux plastic acorns they sell in craft stores. These are so tiny.

When I was out exploring that day I was so happy to come across piles of these little hats, what I called them. I thought I could make something cute with these later and scooped up a bag full.

These acorn trees are pretty easy to make and if you don’t know how to felt then check out Lincolnshire’s needle felting guide , she makes everything look so easy. I am a beginner and I am basically trying to teach this skill to myself, so you all know what that means…funny mistakes.

To get started here are the supplies you will need:

Twigs, assorted sizes

Plaster

Small terra cotta pot

yellow acrylic paint

Pebbles

Wool felt-assorted colors

Felting supplies

Glue

Acorns

Thread and needle

Small beads (optional for non-felters)

First step is pretty easy. Just get your felting supplies out and use the top of the acorn to help guide you to the correct size you will need.

Felt your shape into an oval shape. This is done by gently stabbing, turning, and folding your wool into an oval shape throughout the whole process. Jabbing the wool gently locks it in place while you are shaping it.

Slowly it will start shaping up. Careful with your fingers.

It should start taking it’s shape after a few pokes.

Then dab a little glue into the tops off your acorns to glue in your felt piece.

Let it dry for a few hours.

Even though these were pretty tiny, I still was able to find something to fill them with.

I choose to do several colors but natural colors would look pretty too.

For those of you who do not felt, you can use beads in place of felted wool.

Just glue in beads instead of wool felt.

For a tree base, I painted a small pot yellow.

Mix some plaster to add to your pot.

Then add twigs into plaster before it dries. This will be your little twig tree.

For added detail don’t forget to add a few small pebbles before the plaster dries. This added weight will help balance the tree a little better.

Once your tree base is dry, usually takes a day or two, then sew your acorns to a strand of string and hang from the branches.

Or if you want to skip the tree then just add your acorns to one of my leaf bowls I posted about a couple weeks ago. Clay leaf bowls are so easy to make that even children can have fun making them.

These acorns are pretty easy to make. The kids can glue in the felt pieces after you needle felt them or if using beads then the kids can have fun looking through beads and deciding which to use. Work in some fine motor skills.

I like to use very bright colors in most of my DIY projects, even though those are not the colors trending at the moment. This tree would be very pretty in natural tones with an antique white base to display in a window, on a bookshelf or dresser. You could even hang your jewelry with it.

The fun part about this project is just how creative you can get by changing a few colors here and there.

As always, I will end this with another one of my favorite suggestions and that is to have fun out there in nature exploring all that beauty this planet has to offer us and create away. Have fun with this one everyone. Happy crafting.

Hope you all liked this repost from the past. I am off for a couple weeks. Stay safe, and God Bless you all from all of us at Our Little Red House.