How to Prepare Acorns for Crafts
Learn how to prepare acorns for crafts and home decorating, by using vinegar and baking in the oven! You will be able to dry and preserve acorns from your yard so you can use them for all of your acorn craft projects.
Materials
- Acorns
- A Bowl or Bucket
- Vinegar
- Water
- Paper Towels
- Cookie Sheet Lined with Aluminum Foil
- Oven
- Hot Glue Gun and Glue
- Clear Acrylic Sealer
Instructions
- Step 1. In a bowl, mix water and vinegar together.One-half of a cup of vinegar is a good starting point, and then add a cup or more of water to the bowl, and mix.
- Step 2. Before you begin soaking the acorns, remove any visible dirt or debris.Then, add the acorns to the bowl. Swish them around, and then let them soak for 20 minutes.This will help clean dirt off of them and start to get rid of any bugs inside them too.
- Step 3. After 20 minutes (or longer if you want!) take the acorns out of the water and use a strainer to rinse them with fresh water.Drain off any excess water and let them dry on a paper towel.
- Step 4. In order to kill any bugs that might be inside the acorns, we are going to bake them.Place the acorns on a foil-lined baking sheet and place in a 175-degree F oven for 1 to 2 hours.
- Step 5. I used the "Convection Bake" setting on my oven to help suck excess moisture out.You could also use the regular "Bake" setting and crack the oven door to let moisture escape. (This didn't feel very safe with curious kids around, which is why I went the "convection bake" route.)Halfway through the bake time, flip the acorns over with a spatula or spoon so the other side has a chance to bake.Any green acorns will turn brown as they bake.
- Step 6. After baking for 1-2 hours, remove the cookie sheet and acorns from the oven and let cool completely.Some of the acorn caps may come loose in the drying process.You can use a small dab of hot glue on the inside of the cap to reattach it to the acorn.This is recommended to do first, before you paint acorns, or use them in projects where you want the acorns to have caps.
- Step 7. If you plan to use or display the acorns naturally, you can seal them with Clear Acrylic Sealer to help preserve and protect them. It will also add a little bit of shine.You can skip this step if you are going to paint the acorns.
Notes
- It doesn't matter too much what ratio of vinegar to water you use, as long as it's 1:1 or more water to vinegar. Acorns are tough and are unlikely to be damaged by too much vinegar.
- Use Convection Bake or Standard Bake with the oven door cracked open slightly while baking. This will allow excess moisture to escape. Bake for 1-2 hours at 175 degrees F.
- If acorn caps fall off in the washing and baking process (which is totally normal!), you can hot glue them back on at the end.