Seasonal crafts are a fun way to celebrate the coming months and get you in the mood for the holiday's. With that usually comes thinking that you have to spend lots of time money and energy on such crafts, but thanks to Pinterest we all know that isn't always the case. Camille found this to be true as she started decorating for fall, she decided to use acorns to adorn her barren table for a fun seasonal touch, and the craft was one that seemed to need little to no directions. Seeing as it was a no brainer, she gathered her acorns, put them in her lovely vase, and then made one for her mom, how sweet! That's when things went...fuzzy. Check out today's Pinstrosity!
The Original
Camille found the photo at http://inspiremedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/09/fall-decorating.html
but it was originally posted on the Pottery Barn website (http://www.potterybarn.com/products/acorn-vase-filler/?pkey=cvase-fillers)
Simple.Elegant.Seasonal.
The Pinstrosity
This isn't the Pinstrosity, but this is Camille's piece the day she put it together. Nice touch with the leaves, no?!
Fast forward a few days....
Here's your Pinstrosity, there is now a lovely fuzz ball of an acorn making it's way around the vase, to ALL the other acorns...
Camille said this about her piece after discovering the mold:
"I think Pinterest is like an old-woman who purposely withholds one of the main ingredients from her famous-cookies recipe just so no one else will ever be able to make them quite as well as she does."
In this case she is right, there was information being withheld. Camille guessed that perhaps they waxed their acorns first because they looked perfect and shiny, and I think she is right about that one. But there is still one important piece that is missing.
You have to let the acorns "dry out". Little insects sometimes make the acorn their home and as they are left in this confined space (the vase), they start to mold up due to fungus growing in a moist atmosphere, the vase.
I did some research and there are a few ways to fix this, there are a couple of steps, first you pick them outside from under the shade of the oak tree. Even if they have been on the ground a while doesn't mean they are dry...set out a tarp or a towel and lay the acorns in the sun for a day or two. If you have lots of squirrels in your area, you are going to have to be diligent in keeping them away or you will have to find a good hiding spot for the acorns or the squirrels will think you just put out a free and easy buffet for them.
Wash them once you bring them inside, get rid of dirt, debris or insects that may have made them a mess. Next you will need to bake them, grab a cookie sheet, line it with aluminum foil and spread the acorns out on the pan, bake at no higher than 175 degrees for a few hours. Make sure you check on them frequently and turn them so they don't burn (probably about every half hour or so). Also keep the door of the oven open slightly so the moisture can escape the acorns as they dry.
After they are baked and cooled, take a cloth and some wood polish to shine them up and make them pretty. Place in your vase of choice and enjoy!
Now I haven't had a lot of experience with drying acorns, not a common nut in my neck of the woods, but does anyone have a lot of experience with drying and using acorns for crafts, are there any tricks or the trade?! Let us know!
Happy Friday Pinstrosipeeps!! Have a great weekend, and stay tuned for Marquette's post tomorrow!
I would NOT put those nasty things from the ground into my family's oven. :::shudder:::
ReplyDeleteIt's the same story with pinecones - stink bugs (and other nasty nature critters) lay eggs in them.
What to do? Buy a branch of cute acorns at JoAnn's. They won't rot, mold, or fall apart, you don't have to dry them in your oven, and you can use the 40% off coupon to get a branch (with about 7 acorns) for less than $1.
Really? What about Apples? (Potatoes? Carrots? Beets? Onions???) What is the difference between an acorn (a fruit that has fallen from an Oak tree) and an apple?
DeleteThe trick to that pin is that those are faux acorns from Pottery Barn. The top is real, but the bottom is painted plastic. http://www.potterybarn.com/products/acorn-vase-filler/
ReplyDeleteWow, same picture and everything. Good eye.
Delete-Kat
One of the pinterest sites recently linked to a photo of an acorn craft because the comments to that pin were full of people commenting on failed acorn craft attempts. The pin used wooden acorns, and the comments were full of maggot stories. I would MUCH rather have mold than maggots, so I think this submitter lucked out personally.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll do the baking thing. I also had fuzzy acorns. I washed each and every one in a sink of water and a little bleach and scrubbed them with an old toothbrush. Then I spread them out on a tray to dry. After well over a week, I finally put them in my container. That was just today, believe it or not. There were several (like about a dozen!) little white worms on my tray!!!!! I was, and still am, really grossed out!!!! A good baking should get rid of any remaining critters. *shudder*
ReplyDeleteI would think if you had a food dehydrator, that would work really well too.
ReplyDeleteAnd never, ever put a candle into the vase with acorns. My sister did this to decorate for her fall wedding, and the cute acorns got so hot from the innocent little candles that they exploded and flew across the room! Fortunately they didn't hit anyone, but they did do some damage to the church wall!
ReplyDeleteI did something similar! Here it is!
ReplyDeletehttp://muchadoaboutsomethin.blogspot.com/2012/10/acorns-and-leaves.html
They acorns are plastic. For decoration. They sell them at craft stores.
ReplyDeleteThis picture may look familiar to you. http://www.potterybarn.com/products/acorn-vase-filler/?pkey=cvase-fillers
Having a gas oven I clean my acorns let them air dry and than put them in a brown paper bag or on a foil lined cookie sheet for a few days. DO NOT TURN on oven. They come out perfect. You can also do this with pine cones.
ReplyDeleteMaybe give the acorns a mild bleach bath? It should kill the microbes and the acorn should be hardy enough to be ok.
ReplyDeleteI did the same exact thing, only mine didn't mold, they started to sprout! Looked like worms all in my vase! LOL
ReplyDeleteFunny because I just cleaned out molding acorns just yesterday :)
ReplyDeleteDue to an overabundance of acorns this year in Virginia, I'm as tired of them as I am of the election ads - but at least after today I'll get relief from the ads - hey I'm loving this blog, this is my kind of ... reality! Mary
ReplyDeleteI am so frustrated ... For DAYS I soaked, scrubbed, oven dried, air dried for another week, glued tops back on and then finished with matte polyurethane. I used them in potpourri, etc. then stored the extras in a Ziploc bag. I looked at the bags the other day and there was white fuzzy mold on them. I thought I did everything right :(
ReplyDeleteI am soooo frustrated ... I spent DAYS soaking, scrubbing, oven drying, air drying, gluing caps back on and then sealing with matte finish poly. They air dried more and I used them in potpourri and they looked great. I put the rest in Ziploc bags and when I got them out the other day they look like they have spider webs on them! Does anyone know if they're salvageable? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe acorns in the first photo look exactly like the faux ones I own.
ReplyDeleteThat may be why they didn't mold, they aren't real ones.
Who knows.
I definitely tried this one myself. Looked adorable! Lasted one whole day until I saw a tiny worm-like bug camping out in the bottom. Back to the yard the went hahaha fail
ReplyDeleteFunny how you all get frustrated trying to do this with real acorns hahaha
ReplyDeletePottery barn description: Each acorn is made of plastic, painted for an authentic look and has a real acorn top.