I adore the colours of fall.
Whether it’s rusty red, forest green, golden yellow, midnight blue or juicy raisin, there’s something so cozy about the rich jewel tones that cover the landscape on crisp Autumn days.
My kiddo loves the sound of fallen leaves crunching beneath her feet and has long delighted in collecting mountains of twigs and seed pods during our Autumn walks.
Every year at this time, she and I make leaf people, stick critters and pine cone fairies. But our favourite fall craft is transforming tiny acorn caps into mini gems bursting with bright bold colours inspired by the season.
These sweet little jewels are lovely on their own or can be used for crafting projects such as necklace charms, wreath embellishments or nature bracelets. My daughter even uses them as decorations when she makes fairy houses.
Turning acorn caps into gems is doable for kids of any age. Here’s how to make your own.
Collect acorn caps and dust away any bits of dirt.
Using a magic marker, colour the insides of the acorn caps using fun fall colours.
Place the caps into some play dough so they stand upright without tilting.
Fill each cap with glue.
As you watch the glue dry (this takes 24 to 48 hours, depending on conditions), you will see the colours start to creep across the surface.
You will know the gems are ready when the glue is completely clear.
Remove the acorn caps from the play dough and enjoy your lovely nature gems.
Tip: We used Elmer’s School glue to fill the caps because it flows really well, but when dry, we added a thin coat of Crayola 3-D glue. This final layer gave the acorn gems a nice shiny finish.
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