Transform The Acorns In Your Yard Into The Sweetest Decorations For Planters

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Come fall, it's likely that your yard sports a blanket of acorns – so much so that the ground around your oak tree looks like it's been flooded with small woody raindrops. And, while they won't play a role in keeping your flora watered, that doesn't mean you can't transform your fallen acorns into something that'll dress up your plants. With the help of your creative touch, cheerful acorn caps turn ordinary twigs (possibly from the same oak that dropped the acorns) into little stick dolls. When these woody poppets are finished, you'll push them into the soil of your potted plants. It's a sweet way to save the twigs from your yard and give your acorns a second life, too.

Acorn caps and small sticks play an equal role in the construction of this nature-based craft. Since the caps become the hats for your stick dolls, the twigs you choose should ideally be no wider than the caps. Also, select sticks that still have fresh bark on them to prevent your twigs from shedding. Choose the acorns with equal care. For example, valley oak tree acorns have a more substantial cap than, say, pin oak tree acorns do. This gives you more cap to decorate. Your tiny Pinocchios become real boys once you give them faces, which you'll create with felt-tipped markers and acrylic paint.

Finally, you'll do some carving for this craft, so you'll need something like a Cor Cordium Wood Whittling Kit. A handsaw, branch cutters, a glue gun, and a clear outdoor sealant will be useful, too. 

You can use twigs of different heights for this. That's an especially fun option if you're making a little family of stick dolls. One end of each twig should be fairly flat so the acorn caps fit better on the dolls' heads. If that end is too jagged, trim it with a handsaw. This can happen if you snapped the branch off rather than using branch cutters. Once you have your sticks, carve the opposite end of each into a point to turn it into a stake. Remember to always carve away from yourself. 

Then, use the whittling knife to peel the bark off a section near the top of the twig. You want to expose an inch or two of the white wood underneath. Draw or paint a face on this exposed wood. Next, remove the caps from the acorns, paint them a fun color like red or yellow, and glue them onto the heads of your poppets. Once the paint is dry, you can give each doll a coat of clear outdoor sealant to help it hold up in damp soil. Lastly, plant your stick dolls in your planters to give them a new home.

Your tiny stick dolls are good to go as is, but you can add embellishments to them to make them all the sweeter. For example, instead of drawing eyes on your dolls, use some FKEYTO Wiggle Googly Eyes to give your tree folk moving eyes. And, since you've outfitted your poppets with cute hats, you'll amp up their cuteness factor all the more if you make clothes for them. Felt cut and glued into coats or yarn woven around the dolls' stick bodies are an adorable way to dress them up and make your planters more stunning, too.