How to Clean and Prep Acorns for Crafting and Decor

Collected acorns from your yard? See how to clean and prep acorns for crafting and decor before you use those yard acorns! They may have wormies!

I think we are all becoming a bit more crafty and resourceful this fall season. I’ve been trying to utilize things found in and around our home for decorating much more frequently this year. It feels great to be spending a little less on fall decorating, I must say.

This year, I’m excited to actually craft with acorns!!! Believe it or not, I’ve never used real acorns in my fall decorating. So, I had no urgent need to learn how to clean and prep acorns for crafting and decor. I DO NOW! Check out how to preserve those yard acorns and use them for your diy fall crafts.

How to clean acorns from the yard

One of the things I’m most proud of is actually spending the time to do this prep work. I’m not a fan of bugs whatsoever, and using anything from the yard definitely can introduce little critters into your home. So, cleaning and prepping the acorns is an absolute must.

1Wash the acorns in warm soapy water and then rinse off with water before letting them dry for an hour on a paper towel.

2Toss any broken or rotten acorns and any with small holes where wormies could have entered. GROSS!! I did see little worms in the ziplock bag the acorns were collected in! Don’t get too grossed out, the next step will rid you of the worms.

3Preheat oven to 200F and set acorns to bake for 2-3 hours on a sheet pan (don’t forget to remove the papertowel used to dry the acorns! Be sure you have one layer of acorns and that none are overlapping.

4After baking is complete, let them sit to cool down. I just let mine cool overnight since I started pretty late on this. If the acorn topper has fallen off, which it may happen to several, use a bit of hot glue to replace the topper.

How to preserve acorns

After the acorns have baked and cooled, it’s time to prep the acorns for crafting and to be used for decor. Now, there are a few options to do this so it all depends on the overall look you want to achieve.

The acorns will turn a pretty brown to dark brown color after you bake them. To keep them looking natural, you can spray the acorns with a matte clear sealant spray. This will preserve the acorns and have them last much longer. Plus, it keeps them looking oh so natural.

If you don’t have a sealant spray, you could paint a couple of coats of modpodge. I opted to skip this step for the moment as I have another step to do before preserving these little acorns. Stay tuned for that idea coming this week! In the meantime, start gathering your acorns and prepping them for crafting now that you know what to do!