How To Paint Acorns For Fall Decor and More

Today, I’m going to show you an easy activity-how to paint acorns! I first saw this fall project from my friend Catherine many years ago. I don’t have an oak tree, but the site I frequent while camping has two very mature oak trees. So, I thought I would try my hand at painting acorns.

I have found that it's fun to do crafts while camping. So, I set off to gather acorns, and wash them off. I have an awesome sink table I place at the back of my camper every time I camp.

I let the acorns dry and turn brown for about two weeks in this basket (outdoors). Do you think I have enough acorns? Please only collect acorns your will use, as they are a food source for our furry friends with fall approaching. I think late August is the best time of year to get a bumper crop of acorns.

How Long Do I Bake Acorns In The Oven?

To make sure there were no critters anywhere, I set my oven temperature to 180° and baked them for two hours. This also helps remove the extra moisture.

To do this, I used a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. I did shake the cookie sheet after the first hour. Heated acorns have a strange odor to them, so you may want to do this when you can open the windows.

How To Hot Glue Acorn Caps

What I didn’t know was this—baking the acorns released 99% of the little caps. Many of them were still on the acorns, but not attached. Those corresponding caps were very quickly glued back on using a small glue gun. Because I didn’t want to run a long extension cord out to the picnic table, I opted for my Ryobi Inverter. Simply run a ring of glue to hold the cap on. To keep the hot glue off the tablecloth, I used a paper plate. You could even use Gorilla Glue to get a permanent bond.

 

How To Paint Acorns

The easiest way to paint acorns, believe it or not is with nail polish! It’s glossy, goes on smoothly, dries rather quickly and is very durable! The small flat brush is easy to get close to the caps of the acorns. Bonus! You don't see any brush strokes. It may surprise you to know that my neighbor Rodney is actually the one who thought of this. I probably should have ordered some nail polish replacement brushes to use on the rest of the acorns. You may need more than 1 coat to get full coverage. Seriously, this is so easy, even the kiddos could help with the painting, it would even help with their fine motor skills. (former pre-k teacher here)

Using a cheap soft paint brush, I continued painting acorns in various colors using layers of acrylic paint. To keep the paint off the picnic tablecloth, I used waxed paper.

Did I mention that I painted all these acorns while camping back at the original site where I collected them? It was a beautiful week of weather, and the process was actually very relaxing - one of the best fall activities I've done in a while.

Everyone needs a little sparkle, right? So, of course I had to do some gold glitter acorns.

After seeing how Catherine gave some shine to her painted acorns, I decided to use a spray paint spray sealer (clear coat) on my pretty acorns! Don't the different colors make you smile?

I had some raw acorns, not painted left over. I decided to give them a little shine also!

This may help you decide if YOU want to paint acorns as one of your next craft projects. Top left are the acorns after they were sealed. On the top right are the painted acorns after they were sealed. Finally on the bottom are baked, raw acorns with no paint or sealer.

Painted Acorns in a Dish

Do you have a favorite color? Do you think you will ever paint acorns?

Or do you prefer the acorns with spray sealer to protect them and make them have a sheen?

How Can You Decorate with Painted Acorns?

• Wreaths
• Ornaments
• Vases
• Christmas Decor

I would love for you to save and share this project on Pinterest. Thanks!

gail

See more Fall Projects here