Bringing the Outdoors Inside… DIY Acorn Tree!

I collect 2 things in my old(er) age… sun-catchers and trees. I don’t have a forest in my backyard and I don’t buy a tree every time I visit the garden store but I love pictures of trees, crafts with tree branches, and I have a bunch of miniature tree decorations that I have on display along my bookshelf and mantel. So when Christmas rolls around you can bet your money that I have crystal trees and light up trees and fake fur trees and beaded trees and… yeah. What I DIDN’T have though was an Acorn Tree! Now acorns happen to be something that my 5 year old daughter collects. When we are out at the playground or walking around the neighborhood and she finds one (or 20) they always end up in her pockets… and then in my washing machine. But. I thought this would be a great opportunity to have her put those exploring skills to the test- we went on an adventure in search of acorns and she helped me collect hundreds! I mean, hundreds. Now maybe I can have my own forest in the backyard after all… 🙂

This acorn tree certainly fits perfectly with my autumn decor and it has such a unique, au naturel look. And it’s probably the cheapest tree I’ve bought or made – I only spent $2 on the styrofoam cones from the dollar store!! Add this to your project list this fall and then leave it out through winter as well with some red berries sprinkled around the bottom, perhaps!

This is all you need:

• Styrofoam cone (can be found at dollar stores or craft supply stores)
• Hot glue gun
• ACORNS! Lots of them. In all different sizes.

I initially decided to make 2 acorn trees. Because I could only find one-size styrofoam cone, I cut the base off of one to make it shorter than the other for some fun diversity. And then I only ended up completing one tree anyway. 😉

Step 1) Start at the base of the cone and hot glue acorns forming a spiral up towards the top of the cone. Once you get about half way up the cone, start forming second and third lines to make sure you can make everything fit. You want to end up with hardly any white styrofoam showing through.

Step 2) You don’t have to worry about straight spiral lines through the entirety of the tree – fill in little acorns in places that you can make them fit. The spiraling just gives it a more interesting look rather than gluing the acorns straight across in rows. Finish your tree off with a few acorns on the very tip top!

For my next tree I may spray paint the styrofoam cone a gold color before gluing on the acorns to help hide the white that shows through the acorns in some places. Either way, I think it’s beautiful! My husband thought I was crazy when I had bags and bags full of those little nuts but agreed afterwards that my Acorn Tree turned out very nicely. Hopefully our neighborhood squirrels aren’t too hungry now! 🙂

Would you give this a try?? I’d love to see your results! How else have you brought the outdoors into your home??

For more awesome DIY projects, check out MyMilitarySavings.com!