Dear Chicago House,
On more than one occasion recently I have been woken in the middle of the night by a walloping sound above my head. The culprit, an oak tree, that been literally raining acorns on the roof. All I can say is thank goodness for gutter guards.
Risking serious head injury I decided it would be a good idea to collect a few. Aren’t they pretty!
But they can be prettier…how about this Acorn Vase?
and so easy to make.
I started with a plastic garden pot – one of the straight sided kind and basically stuck acorns on with hot glue, starting at the bottom of each side and working up. The top was embellished by acorn cups.
Easy peasy!
Chicago teenager filled it with conkers (horse chestnuts) that are in abundant supply at the other end of the garden.
But a word to the wise. This is an outdoor vase only … not to be brought inside…EVER. See those little holes in the acorns…well there are grubs in there. Yucky white grubs that made Chicago teenager have a girly screaming fit and then insist on changing her clothes in case she had any on her.
Some of the acorns have started to sprout so maybe come spring we will have a “living” vase.
Love from
Creative in Chicago
XX
what a clever little vase!! too bad for the grubs cause theis would be great indoors too!
So creative and organic. And you know I love easy!!
If you freeze the acorns for a few days, they would be bug free. You could also roast them at at low temp (200 – 250 degrees) in the oven to remove/kill the bugs/grubs.
I would so love to have a bag full of both the large acorns and the horse chestnuts to craft with. Can't find any acorns that big here in Arizona and I have never seen horse chestnuts. Those are Cool! Love your vase. Very pretty.
I think I must have the only horse chestnut tree in the whole of America in my garden. I have never seen them anywhere else over here. In the UK there are loads.
Loved the vase… I'm decorating. My new guest bathroom in acorns of all types. Would you be willing to sell a few and ship them to me? Let me know at my email:
veronicawilkinsonjones@ymail.com
I would love to hear from you…. Veronica
Hi Veronica…I think this vase is for outdoor use only…too many nasty bugs in the acorns that you will not want crawling around in your bathroom
I HAVE learned that roasting the acorns before crafting with them " kills all " the bugs and stops the sprouting. This way they can be used indoors whenever you want to have them displayed. I am going to try making a small trash can for my bathroom. Hopefully this will turn out useable.
Great tip and I only wish I had done this before making my vase!
The vase is great! Thanks for the tip! I live in the Netherlands and we have smaller acorns over here. I going to try this on a small vase:-) One more question… What is hot glue?
Hot glue comes in glue sticks that fit in a hot glue gun that melts the glue. Glue gun has an electric cord and must be plugged into an electrical outlet. Used when you want an instant firm connection.
Thanks for your tip! It looks great! I hope you can explain a bit more what hot glue is?
hi lotski, here is a link for a hot glue gun http://www.amazon.com/Melt-Trigger-STICKS-EVERY-ORDER/dp/B0002KR9DY the glue set very quickly and is great for all sorts of crafty endeavors
You should sell your leftover acorns . To us crafters that cant get any .
What if you used spray lacquer to seal it? Then could/would it be safe to use it indoors?
Hi Di, thanks for your comment.I think the best approach to take if you want to bring inside is to bake the acorns before using. This will kill the bugs but remove their shine. A shiny lacquer would restore that shine though!
Happy creating!