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When Acorn Crafts Go Terribly Wrong

Ack, we’re painting the hall bathroom, and we can’t wait to finish, shoot pics, and share them with you guys! But since that’s still in progress, I thought this stellar example of things not always working out might make you guys smile. We always get asked “what happens if you try something and it doesn’t work?” and I always say “we blog about it, of course!” You know, like this and this and this. We love sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly. And we can totally relate to a failed craft project or ten. So here we go…

In Richmond it has been raining men. If by men I mean acorns. Seriously, those little buggers are everywhere.

  Acorns1

So I got a wild hair and decided – most definitely inspired by all the crafty acorn projects on sites like Martha & Pinterest – that I would do a cute little acorn craft. So I gathered up some acorns with my trusty assistants (those would be Clara and Burger, who actually worked against me the whole time by throwing/kicking/chasing them away from me) and put a few dozen into a bag.

  Acorns2

Then I froze those suckers because I remember hearing a few horror stores about bugs or other odd things “hatching” from acorns, and those I did not want.

  Acorns3

I left them in the freezer overnight, which I hear is all that it takes to kill off anything suspicious (although I did think to myself “self, doesn’t it get that cold outside? what is superior about a freezer that makes it better?”).

Then a day later I took them out of the freezer and let them thaw out. Later I poured some leftover craft paint (a little tube of acrylic paint that was originally like two bucks from Michaels) into a bowl. Then I took all the “hats” (you know, those little top parts of the acorn) off and dipped the end of them into the yellow paint.

  Acorns4

Then I realized this was a terrible plan since I had no way to keep them from rolling all over the place and smearing, until I looked over at the pretzels that we keep in one of those big glass containers on the counter next to the cereal. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Yup, I totally made little pretzel stands so they wouldn’t roll around. Oddly enough it actually worked. I know, I was just as surprised as you are at this fortuitous turn of events. Don’t worry, things go bad later.

  Acorns5

After dipping a bunch of acorns and setting them in their little pretzel holsters to dry I turned my attention to the $2 faux flowers that I’d grabbed at Michael’s (50% off thanks to those ubiquitous mailer coupons). When I got them… yeah- not so hot. But it wasn’t anything a little trimmy-trim and a cute vase couldn’t solve.

Acorns6

Ah, much cuter. And kinda fall-ish in that not-putting-fifty-gourds-everywhere way. Understated and easy, if you will. And then a few hours later when my little yellow tipped acorns were dry they came into the picture too. See them chilling in that glass container?

Acorns8

Here’s a panned out shot of the console with a few other tiny fall tweaks. I switched out the blue and gray books for some leaf-colored yellow and red ones…

  Acorns7

… and grabbed some old vase filler from my fall tupperware bin in the form of some tiny faux apples, that I shoved into a clear cylinder vase leftover from our wedding (it’s the same one that held lemons and limes on the table).

Acorns9

Then I felt very chuffed (that’s my favorite English word along with “the till”) until about a day later when I saw this. What the…?

Acorns10

I popped the top and looked a little closer and it was totally mold. Boo! And I know you guys get a kick out of the what-didn’t-work projects just as much as the ones that did – so there ya go. My name is Sherry, and I somehow made beautiful yellow tipped moldy acorns. I’m not quite sure what went wrong, but I’m pretty sure that mold is not the new chevron, so it’s not going to be sweeping the DIY world anytime soon. Just say no to mold.

Acorns11

Actually, to say that I don’t know what went wrong is a lie. I totally know what went wrong. I’m just not adept enough to dabble in acorn crafts. The stakes are just too high. Glue guns? Sure. Paint? Ok. Drills and power saws? Yes please! But acorns? They send a shiver down my spine. I’m clearly not ready for them yet…

So I did the loving thing and threw those moldy paint-dipped acorns away and whipped out some fun old printing letters for a rustic fall-ish feeling without the threat of mold (we have a ton of these with all of our initials, our wedding date, and even “YHL” thanks to a sweet friend who sent these three our way).

Acorns12

So other than a few tiny and cheap (well almost all of them were actually free) fall tweaks in the form of some leaf-colored books, a few cut down fake-blooms from Michael’s and some cute little apple vase filler, we’ve learned one thing. I’m clearly not attentive enough to master the delicate eco-system that is an acorn. So I’m leaving them to Martha and you crafty folks on Pinterest who can manipulate them into wreaths and decorative orbs and all of those other wildly creative things without so much as batting an eye. I’ll stick to cutting down faux flowers and popping them into a bright little vase thankyouverymuch. Eh, who am I kidding, I’m totally going to try my acorn luck again next year. It’ll be like an epic annual battle that keeps no one on the edge of their seat but me.

Has anyone else mastered the acorn or done any especially cute and not-at-all moldy fall crafts? Do tell. I promise I’ll only pout a little…

Comments

  1. Meghan P says

    I tried putting acorns around a candle in a glass vase last year – didn’t do any prep or freezing before hand – and they started sprouting! Little green shoots started breaking through, which was cool to see, but I don’t need a vase of mini trees on the table.

    Reply

  2. Billie says

    My son had a ziploc baggie of acorns that he left on top of his dresser. When we came across them later, there were little wormy, bug things all over the dresser and the acorns had sprouted roots inside of the baggie.

    Reply

  3. Colleen C. says

    Same thing happend to me!…I collected some acrons from a friends yard and just tossed then in a ziplock bag…they sat in the bag for maybe a week or so and when I opened the bag the acorns were moldly…I wonder if they need to breathe…that sounds weird but maybe they shouldn’t be covered or sealed.

    Reply

  4. Kim Blake says

    Look at it this way – you made a custom, color-pop acorn terrarium! Maybe baking them at a lower temp, like 200 or 250 would kill any nasties and get any moisture out?

    Reply

  5. Michelle :) says

    Oven Drying: Place the tray of acorns in a warm oven (175ºF) for about 20 minutes with the oven door slightly cracked to let the moisture escape.
    I looked it up… i really hope you give the craft another try! Such a cute idea.

    http://www.grandpappy.info/racorns.htm

    The advantages of oven drying are:
    1. Drying can be done very quickly.
    2. It effectively kills all insect larva.
    3. It eliminates future mold problems.

    The disadvantages of oven drying are:
    1. The inner nutmeat looses most of its moisture and flavor and it becomes very hard to chew.
    2. The shelf life of the nutmeat is only two or three months.

    Reply

  6. polymathamy says

    I just googled “bake acorns for crafts” and found several results where other crafty bloggers had the same mold problem, so they figured out that you can bake them at a low temperature (250 degrees F) for about an hour to dry them out. This will kill little buggars better too, since many can “hibernate” through the freezing…

    Word from experience: don’t use acorns around candles – fresh ones will explode from superheating the moisture inside, and dry ones will catch on fire.

    Reply

  7. Bonnie says

    When my kids were in elementary school, and we had a plethora of acorns, I would fill an old fish bowl (keeping count as I went along) with them. Then I’d bring it to school on the day of their “Harvest” Party. Whichever boy and girl guessed how many acorns there were (without going over) got a prize. Usually pencils or stickers. Then I would pile them on the lawn & see how long it took the squirrels to find them.

    Reply

  8. Ashlee says

    I tried a similar acorn craft last year.

    Through a painstaking process, I deftly selected acorns with “hats attached” from my front yard, let them dry outside for nearly a week (losing several to hungry squirrels) and subsequently baked the remaining acorns at 250 for 45-60 minutes.

    Surely, they would be completely cured by now, don’t you think?!?

    NOPE — ALL of the acorns molded a few days later!

    This year, I gladly purchased some faux acorns for display (and sanity) purposes.

    Reply

  9. Meaghan says

    I made an acorn wreath last fall and baked mine. We baked them pretty hot for at least 20 minutes. They did crack (which I took as a good sign that all the bugs were dead inside). At some point, I put the wreath up for the year and when I got it back out months later, the acorns were moldy. I have no idea what to do to keep those darn things from moldin’ but it isn’t freezing or baking. And that’s too bad because this wreath took a lot of hot-gluing love.

    http://twolawyersoneroof.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/come-and-knock-on-our-door-part-two/

    Good luck!

    Reply

  10. Erin {Home Everyday} says

    My oldest son, Russell, asked me to save apricot pits once because he wanted to grow a tree in our yard. I did all kinds of research and to save the pits for planting the website I looked at said to scrub them with a little brush and a solution of bleach and water. Then put them in the freezer for like 8 weeks before planting. Crazy! I skipped the whole idea as bleaching seeds seems weird if I was going to plant them… wouldn’t the bleach penetrate the seed? Long story long… (sorry) maybe if you washed them with a little bleach water then put them in the freezer, they’d be good to go.

    Reply

  11. Kay W says

    You can put them in the oven on a low heat (175 or lower) for a few hours to dry them out completely. They did look great though, while they lasted.

    Reply

  12. Erin V says

    I didn’t do anything special to mine. My girls and I found some acorns and pine cones at my daughters school. So we collected them and put them into an uncovered jar, no freezing or baking. I haven’t noticed any molding or bugs!

    Reply

  13. Bethany Darragh says

    I glued little metal hoops onto mine like you would put on a pendant for a necklace and then dipped the whole thing in resin. I pulled them out from the fall decor box last year and they still looked great.

    Reply

  14. lauren says

    Umm can we talk about the Oikos greek fro-yo? How is it?? I’m hooked on Ben & Jerry’s version but it’s definitely not non-fat.

    Reply

  15. mindy m. says

    I would say they needed longer in the freezer. When we deal with moldy books (I work in a library) we usually put them in a freezer for at least a month to kill off any mold spores.

    Reply

  16. Amy S says

    I suspect that letting them dry out for a couple of days after freezing, before painting, and then storing them in an open container after would avoid the mold problem. There was probably quite a bit of moisture in them when they were first gathered, which freezing trapped in.

    It’s a completely adorable idea; thank you for sharing! I’ve been collecting acorns and pinecones to use as autumn decor with vague plans to upgrade and reuse as Christmas decor. So now I’m thinking of maybe dipping the acorns in red and white paint (or silver, blue & white, oooh), then add glue gun + ribbon = Christmas garland…

    Reply

  17. Rhiana says

    I teach pre school and one of the kids collected some acorns from outside and left them in his pockets. His mother found maggots in his pockets! I now only buy the fake acorns! Also- you didn’t mention how long you waited between taking them out of the freezer and painting them. I wonder if letting them get to room temp would have helped? I think anything with protein (nut) will eventually mold even if you freeze or bake them unless you shellac it.

    Reply

  19. Matt says

    I don’t know that baking them is a great idea (unless you want to eat them), but I think you were on the right track with freezing them.

    Here in the art museum world (where I work), we freeze textiles to kill any bugs and pests that might be lurking. For textiles you want to make sure your freezer is between -4 and -13 deg. F., put the textile in a 3-4 mil. polyethylene(food safe) bag and remove as much air as possible and you want to keep them frozen for at least a week, no opening the freezer during that time!

    Now I realize that isn’t possible for this acorn project because you have delicious frozen yogurt in that freezer and who can wait a whole week before they can have some of that?!

    I would recommend squeezing more air out of your freezer bag (maybe even vacuum it out), let them stay in there for several days (a week or so if you can) and then let them thaw in the same bag for a day after you remove them. Don’t open the bag until they are thawed! You will get condensation, but it should only be on the outside of the bag.

    The next issue you have is that jar you put them in. Although it isn’t a tight seal on the jar, there really isn’t good circulation around the acorns. Good circulation (like a container without a lid), 45-55% relative humidity and 68-72 deg. F. will be the best environment to keep mold and mildew away!

    Hope this helps and good luck next time you try it!

    Reply

  20. Kelley Newman says

    Bummer! It was a good try. I didn’t prep my acorns, and I also noticed some worm firends a few days later. I threw out the acorns affected (the ones with holes bored in them) and put the rest on a white platter with 3 candles on it. No mold yet…maybe they need to be spread out and not in a jar/vase? Better luck next year! I’m jealous of your abundance of acorns…I brought mine home from a trip to the mountains.

    Reply

  21. Patty S says

    Ha ha! I know how you feel. I spent weeks gathering acorns from my 1 tree and put them in a crystal bowl with a candle. A few weeks later, I went to switch them out for a different bowl. That’s when I discovered the larvae. So gross. So very, very gross. Then I discovered the larvae burrowing into the candle. I’ll never try another acorn project.

    Reply

  22. Barb says

    Definitely put them in the oven. I also soaked mine in vinegar for 10 minutes first (’cause vinegar fixes everything, right?) Of course this was after I stupidly let them sit in a box for a week (yeah, weevils, yuck).

    Reply

  23. Mandi R says

    I’ve always read to bake them really low on like 200 for a hour or so to dry them out. When I’ve done crafts with any thing like that I’ve tossed them in the dehydrator overnight, and I’ve never had any mold problems.

    Reply

  24. Cheryl says

    I saw one of your commenters said something about the light frame around the pic above the buffett — what about painting it the same yummy teal as the back of your bookcases? It’s a thin frame, so it wouldn’t shout at you — just a soft whisper of “look how fabulous I am” !!

    Reply

  25. Gabby says

    The acorns sitting in their pretzel anchors look like handmade chocolates with a creamy topping! Yummy!!
    (Yes, my name is Gabby and I’m a chocaholic…)

    Anyways, I love what you did with the acorns and it’s a pity that the nasty old mold had to spoil things. But see this is why we love you both – we get the good and the bad, but we’ll always have your back. :)

    PS: Pretzel anchors – inspired!

    Reply

  26. Felicity says

    I tried to use acorns as a pretty vase filler last year. It was gorgeous for a few days until little worms started crawling out of the acorns… never again! Sorry your project was a flop.

    Reply

  27. Terri Simmons says

    I did a cool project with acorn hats. I saw it on Pinterest but went one step further using hats from a sawtooth oak. I will send you a picture via email of the candle rings I made. Simply color the hat with a marker, fill it with clear Elmers, let it dry. Presto: jewel tones. Then I hot glued them to grape vine candle rings. Hope you like it.
    Terri

    Reply

  28. Megan @ Rappsody in Rooms says

    I can definitely relate! I had a similar experience except I wish some friend would have told me about the bugs. They. are. gross. They hatched alll over the room my acorn project was happening in. (Except for the ones in this project where I entirely painted the acorns – it seemed to cure all mold and bug problems: http://rappsodyinrooms.com/2012/10/12/acornucopia/). I also had a little glass pumpkin that I threw a few in and they all molded too (and hatched bugs). So I feel you there!

    Reply

  29. Jenny says

    I love the acorns. You should totally try again without sealing them into the bag and freezing, see if it helps!! I imagine if there are bugs in them, you’d see the holes?

    And as an aside, I’m now living in France, but I think those are the same fake flowers I used to keep in a tiny vase in my car back in NC. Funny, when you’ve been away for a while, the stupidest things make you homesick lol.

    Reply

  30. Courtney says

    Um yeah, happened to us. My son collected a bazillion acorns, which my mom thoughtfully put in a glass jar. It sat on our dining room table about a week until I noticed they were growing mold. Ewwww…

    Reply

  31. JC says

    I don’t feel so bad now. My kids went wild when we found acorns at a park so we ended up with 2 huge ziplocks. I had 3 acorn art projects, a decor thing for me, and a gag gift for my dad (who now lives in FL but used to live in a house here in IL that had so many acorns fall in the autumn we would do wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow all weekend long, every weekend). I tried a couple methods (including drying them in the hot window on a cookie cooling sheet). Not only did I end up with mold, I did find a couple creepy crawlies before I could seal the ones I planned to seal. I now feel much better after discovering I’m not alone in my acorn failure. I am bummed though – and mystified how I pick acorns almost every year and never had this issue before.

    Reply

  32. Jillian Kay says

    I have an (open) glass jar of acorns sitting on my mantle at home that I haven’t given a 2nd thought to or looked too closely at since I put it there about 3 weeks ago. Reading these comments has me totally freaked out to go home and look at it because it might be moldy and crawling with worms.

    Reply

  33. emma says

    I felt rediculous for buying the pretty gold acorns from PB (they were free with a coupon, common!) but knew I’d never have the patience to paint those suckers. I’m totally using the moldy excuse to validate it instead!

    Reply

  35. Wendy says

    I think your problem is that the acorns themselves are alive and contain moisture (you know baby oaks trees and all that) and then you put them in a sealed container and all that moisture got trapped. I don’t know about the oven but you can just leave them sitting out in the sunroom or something and they will dry out and die. We used to put them in a bag in the fridge to separate them from their worms. White worms just crawl out into the bag and you can throw them away. I agree with you about freezing, clearly won’t kill the acorns or the worms.

    Reply

  36. Paula says

    I just put mine in the microwave for about a minute or so. Did it about a month ago and no yucky bugs or worms so far. A few popped open but the majority were fine.

    Reply

  37. Kim says

    We went to a wonderful, very nice restaurant for our anniversary recently, and they had glasses vases filled with dried black-eyed peas, and dried out okra stuck in them. They were very pretty and fall-like. I think I’m going to try that, although I’m not sure if I can get okra now, or how I would dry it. Maybe I can use sticks or something instead.

    Reply

  38. Samantha says

    Sorry about your acorns. :( I feel your pain. I collected a bunch of acorns one year and put them in glass candleholders with a candle on top as a centerpiece for our table. A few days later during dinner, I looked up mid-chew to see a worm wiggling around in the acorns. Gross. Needless to say, they got dumped and I lost my appetite. ;)

    Reply

  42. Karen says

    I agree..I’m guessing your mold problem came mostly from putting them in an enclosed container before they were completely dry. I bet oven drying them would do the trick..and since they are free you can dry more than you need in case some of them do crack in the process.

    A note on freezing them to kill bugs: if you are going to use the freezing method, it is usually suggested to freeze, thaw, and freeze again. This is because a large number of insects can go into hibernation in the freezer, but often cannot hibernate again..so the first time just puts the little bugs to sleep, the second time is what will kill them.

    Good luck in future fall crafting!

    Reply

  43. julia says

    Drying them in the oven is a great idea. Yeah, the freezer probably caused condensation on the inside. . . which led to moldy acorns.

    I used to make all kinds of craft projects as teachers gifts when I was a kid. And I’ll tell you. . .shellac will prevent anything from molding. Even a bagel (long story)!
    I’d try drying, then shellac-ing. Let me know if it works next time. If there is a next time!

    Reply

  44. car54 says

    When I was a little girl, we went to visit a farm and during the visit I collected a bunch of acorns–and at some point I got tired of carrying them –it got in the way of petting farm animals, I think :), so I put them in my mom’s purse.

    Sometime weeks later, my mom was looking in the bottom of her purse and discovered a LOT of little dead worms that had hatched out of the acorns.

    So that’s the sum of my acorn wisdom.

    HOWEVER–we were very crafty and my mom took some styrofoam cones and some kind of glass parfait dish…. spray painted the cone and dish brown. Then she would glue acorns, or different nuts on the cone–set the cone into the glass dish–it made these kind of cool fall-looking nut trees she would use for decorating. She also did them out of little pine cones sometimes for Christmas decorations.

    Watch out for those evil acorn worms…..:)

    Reply

  46. AngelaKr says

    I too was on the acorn bandwagon this year…. I mean really! Who wants to pay $15 at pottery barn when i can just go pick some up at the lake? Big ones too! Brought a bucketfull home, proceeded to soak in hot water and vinegar to kill whatever might be living in them…. Placed them in a bowl on the kitchen table, an old mason jar for the living room and a second in my 3year olds room since she was enthralled with them… Well.. My sister noticed the moldy mess in the living room a few days later…though the ones in the tykes room were good…. Until i checked a week later and found nasty gross throw up in your mouth a bit white worms crawling around. Screeching ensued, out they went and a big sigh of relief that none existed in the open air bowl on the dining table…. Ah ignorance is such bliss…. A closer look took care of that naivety and out the door they went too…I normally dont say never.. But never again will we collect acorns from the lake. Im not sure what was worse.. The weevils in my 3 year olds room or on the dining table. Still get the heebie geebies thinking about it….. Ugh.

    Reply

  47. Pam says

    I think the brilliant-ness (is that a word?!) of the pretzel holders far outweighs the fact that the end result was a bust. That was ingenuity at its finest!

    Reply

  48. Maggie says

    Baking would work, but in any case the acorns would need to be thoroughly dry, or be in the open air, not a closed container to dry out over time — a long time.
    I once tried to make acorn people, animals, etc, and the acorns were so hard I couldn’t pierce them with a needle, had to use a tiny drill bit. It was too much work for how well the project turned out. I’m sure the squirrels and other wild critters will be happy to eat any acorns you have lying around!

    Reply

  49. Leslie says

    Well, I can’t say I’m sorry this one didn’t work out for you. When I saw the picture of the bowl on the table all I could think was “Man, I would totally walk by, think those were candies, and be SO PISSED when I realized they were ACORNS!” hahaha.

    Reply

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