Christmas Craze: Centerpiece Fun

12 of Christmas Craze is brought to you by Almost There and We, Vagabonds!

Since I made the these festive acorns for a Thanksgiving centerpiece I've had acorns on the brain! So I decided to make centerpiece acorns and lollipops (WHAT?!) to be a part of my Christmas centerpiece that I'm planning. 

Enjoy!

What you need for lollipops:

• Air Dry Clay!
• Circle Cookie Cutter
• Bamboo Skewers
• Paint
• Glue
• Glitter

What you need for acorns:

• Paper Mache Eggs
• Glue
• Glitter
• Hemp/String/Yarn! It's up to what you want to use for the acorn top!
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue Stick

First you need to make your lollipops the night before so they can completely dry. It's simple--using a roller flatten your clay and use your cookie cutter to make your circles. Snap your bamboo skewer in half and stick the skewer in the bottom of your circle.

Then let them dry over night!

The next day you can finish the lollipops while making the acorns! Be be warned...SO MUCH GLITTER!

First I picked out two colors for my lollipops. I went with a pretty pink and a bright green. Paint all of them and set them aside to dry.

Next take your glue and paint it on a majority of the egg. You can leave the top of the future acorn alone. 

Now, since I had to cover six eggs with glitter I decided to do a shake-and-bake type deal. I took a big freezer ziplock bag, filled it with the glitter colors I wanted and dropped the egg in. Then I danced around, shaking the bag. This alarmed Milo the cat. He walked away from me with an annoyed look.

I used bottle caps to put the eggs on to dry! 

Finally to finish these festive acorns, find a starting point at the very bottom of the acorn's top that will cover up the parts of the egg not glittered. Use the hot glue gun to dab some glue on that spot and then put the beginning of the thread/hemp/yarn on it. Let it dry and then wrap the egg in spirals until you make it to the very top. You can make a stem with the yarn but I liked making a little loop, using the hot glue gun to seal it. If you want these eggs to be Christmas ornaments this loop comes in handy!

To finish the lollipops, use glue to make a spiral on the top and then sprinkle your glitter on it! Let them dry and then you're finished!

Keep up with Almost There to see my finished centerpiece (once I get settled in my new place!)

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

DIY Fun: Festive Acorns

Okay, so maybe the phrase "festive acorns" doesn't immediately grab your attention. I'm sure you weren't at work today or just lounging and then BAM you wanted some festive acorns in your life. But maybe you DO need them!

In honor of Thanksgiving I've made the trek home to have some family time, which means that my craft supplies have also taken a vacation from me. They are tucked away at home, probably hiding from Milo (that cat loves him some crafts to gnaw on)! However, when I first got here I noticed that we have no Thanksgiving-y decorations around the house. Well, I had to change that.

So here is a DIY project that is easy, affordable and produces cute/fun results! I want to go ahead and apologize for the glare and odd lighting on some of the pictures...It's vacation, right?

Festive Acorns
Two small, glittery faux acorns
One large, chalkboard faux acorn

Materials Needed--All can be found at Hobby Lobby

Papier-mâché eggs (I only got three since we are so close to Thanksgiving and I don't have more time to decorate)

Chunky Yarn (I suggest a bit bigger than what I actually used...less spiraling) 

Tacky Glue
Three Paint Brushes (Or you could be bad like me and use the same one, just wash it thoroughly after each use...remember, I don't have my craft box with me so I'm limited with what I have)
Glitter (I used gold and silver)
Hot Glue Gun + Glue Stick
Chalk
Then you could get...
Any paint color of your choice (I went with black)
Clear Chalkboard Coating
OR
Chalkboard Spray Paint

(Did I also mention that the only stretch of fabric I had was this very loud and distracting chevron? But I had to improvise with my makeshift workstation!)

Now let's start!

If you went my route and got Clear Chalkboard Coating then I suggest you start on the big acorn first.

I'm a big fan of the coating versus the spray. The only reason being is that you can paint the area you want to chalk with any color and then use the coating on top of it to make it chalk-safe. I decided to go with black paint to make it feel more chalk board-y...plus I realized I didn't have another color when I got home! 

First take your big egg and mark off the top area that you don't want paint to get on. I suggest a tape that isn't intense so it won't take off the paper of the egg when you remove it. I used some really funky duct tape that isn't that sticky. I'd suggest washi or painter tape.

Now paint the bottom of the future acorn and let it sit and dry while you move to the glitter ones.

Get your Tacky Glue and a paintbrush and spread the glue around evenly on the bottom of your future acorn. Then take your glitter and sprinkle it on while spinning it in your hand. My step mom isn't a big fan of lots of glitter so I tried to ton it way back so you can still see the original paper of the egg.

Do this to both eggs and let them dry while you return to your chalk egg. 

Now it's time to paint the Chalk Coating on your dry egg. Paint this coating vertically. Then let it sit for an hour.

Then comes the yarn-spinning part where you make the top of the acorns. Find a starting point at the very bottom of the acorn's top that will cover up the parts of the egg not glittered. Use the hot glue gun to dab some glue on that spot and then put the beginning of the yarn on it. Let it dry and then wrap the egg in spirals until you make it to the very top. You can make a stem with the yarn but I liked making a little loop, using the hot glue gun to seal it. This part was my least favorite if only because my patience level varies depending on my caffeine intake...and I hadn't had my coffee.

After you make the tops to both glitter acorns (or an hour has passed), paint another coat of the chalkboard coating horizontally. Then the directions say to let it cure for 24 hours before actually writing on it with chalk, but I COULDN'T TAKE IT! I wrote on it after only four hours and it seems fine? 

It's fine.

Do the same technique as before to complete the top of your chalkboard acorn and you should be done!

I finished mine but it was so dark that my pictures looked odd and we didn't have time to look for the nice bowl to put them in as a centerpiece, but I PROMISE they look completely adorable in person. Not to mention that you can totally draw all over one with chalk!

I hope you liked this DIY and happy early Thanksgiving!