Glittered Acorn Project

I am preparing for an upcoming art fair that happens the first weekend of December on Bainbridge Island, WA. One of the lines I showcase are tree ornaments which usually have a touch or two of sparkle and bling (OK, maybe more than a touch). These acorns did not escape the glitter bottle and will be placed in some sumptuous glittered twiggy nests. They could also be used to scatter on a holiday table, glued onto place cards, or hung in a tree as an ornament.

I have always loved acorns and since oak trees are hard to find in the Puget Sound area, my aunt from Boston gathered some for me. During shipment, many of the caps had separated from the nut so I used that to my advantage and easily glittered just the caps. The tops and bottoms had to be painstakingly matched but having them separated made the gluing and glittering easier.

I painted the acorn caps with diluted glue, as using it from the bottle would be too thick. Then I dipped them stem end down into a small paper cup with enough glitter to bury the cap into. The caps were swirled around, insuring an even coat then set out to dry. I always let the glue dry a good 24 hours. And while that is more than enough time I want to make sure the glue is DRY before handling. It is worth the wait as I have impatiently rushed previous projects and the glitter gets smudged. If the acorns were to be sold as a tree ornament, I would have glued on a loop of thread before glittering.

Once thoroughly dry, the caps were glued onto the bottoms and ta-dah! Glittered acorns. I used three different glass glitters: silver, gold, and copper. I believe the silver ones look the best, but the copper color certainly makes it look more like an acorn.

I decided to glitter just the cap and not the whole nut. Seeing the organic, natural nut adds a
bit of authenticity. If it was all glittered, it may as well been plastic.