acorn bling

I had a few extra acorns left over from the napkin ring project, and I have to confess that while I love the whole acorn, the little caps slay me with their cuteness. So I turned a few into rings with a late fall, nature-bling vibe.

You’ll Need:
Acorn caps
1” styrofoam balls
Craft knife
Hot glue gun or white glue
Spray paint or acrylic paint (for solid finish); polyurethane sealer (for natural finish); or glue with brush and   glitter (for glitter version
Decorative paper and scissors (optional)
Adjustable ring blanks with a flat disk (like these or these, or these if you want to step it up)
Bonding cement

How To:

First, twist the acorn caps off to separate from the nut, and make sure the caps are relatively clean.

Cut a slice of a Styrofoam ball to fit inside the acorn top. Place inside the cap so the domed curve of the Styrofoam ball fits against the curved cap and the flat edge is flush with the bottom of the cap. This will give you a flat surface to adhere to the ring. This takes a smidgen of finessing – you want a tight enough fit that the Styrofoam will stay in place. If it’s a little roomy, secure in place with hot glue.

Paint the acorn caps with a thin but thorough coat of spray paint or acrylic paint. Keep it thin enough that you can still see the texture of the acorn cap. If you’re making the glitter version, paint the cap with glue and then sprinkle with glitter to coat. Let dry.
 
To finish, I like to tidy up the base by cutting a small circle of decorative paper to fit inside the cap. Glue in place with hot glue. Then apply bonding cement to the flat disk on ring base, and press acorn cap in place.

Thanks, nature!

And I'm so thankful for all of you. Have a wonderful, cozy, happy Thanksgiving! xo

summercraft: upholstery necklaces

Well, lazyhood, this is it. The official last week of summer. At least in my book. To me, Labor Day guillotines a heavy, final slice across the summer season. And even through here in San Francisco we’re just coming into our warmest months, there will still be a chill in the breeze. Just this weekend, we visited friends up north of the city and when we left and stepped onto their front porch as the sun was setting, crunchy oak leaves were falling and (maybe it was just my imagination) the air smelled like apples.

So this will be the last week of the Lazy Summer series. We’ll build to the final giveaway at the end of the week. In the meantime, here’s a quick reprise craft project to bundle us into the fall: upholstery necklaces. The supplies are cheap enough that you can switch them out for autumnal colors soon enough. But I’m still a sucker for bright, summertasticly happy necklaces that lie light on the skin for these waning warm days.

All that’s required is a sufficient length of upholstery trim from your local fabric or craft store and a clever closure. You could use a big safety pin in a pinch, or a large crimp closure like these. Simply string, check in the mirror to make sure the length is right, and walk out the door, emboldened by the bright hit of color.