Tricks + Treats: Rachel's Acorn Garland

I'm Rachel from Smile And Wave, a place where I write about life with two little people, a lot of vintage, and the good-looking man with the scooter. 

I love decorating the house to reflect seasonal changes and tend to want to make it rather than buy it so this year I opted to use what I always have on hand to create a fun acorn garland.  Wood grain contact paper will probably be in my top five must haves for awhile for it's versatility and trendiness.  I have used it in art journals, mini books, to create wall art, to line the inside of a wardrobe, etc. and love how easy it is to work with!  You can whip up your own acorn or (insert icon here) garland with a few basic low cost materials and add a little autumn coziness to your space.

You'll need two tones of wood grain contact paper, preferably one lighter and one darker.  You can find them at most hardware stores including Ace, Lowe's, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart.  Substitute this with vintage wallpaper, found paper, book pages, etc. and you'll be my hero.  You'll also need three pieces of 12" x 12" thin chipboard (available at scrapbooking stores) or about three to four cereal boxes, twine or yarn, a hole punch, paper scissors, a pen, thumb tacks or other device for hanging your garland.

Print out the acorn pdf and trace it onto your cereal box or chipboard as many times as you want depending on how long you want your garland to be.  Cut them out and stack them so that they're all facing the same way. (Pattern PDF:  Download Acorn)
 

Then place your acorn template over your lighter woodgrain and trace about 1/2" around the edge of your template up to the point you want the lighter woodgrain to stop.  Once you attach this to your chipboard you'll trim off the edges.  Use your same acorn template to judge where the darker wood grain should slightly overlap the light and then cut about 1/2" around the top edge of your acorn.  Attach it to your chipboard so that it slightly overlaps the lighter woodgrain and then trim around the edges.  Repeat with all of your acorns.

Punch holes in the first finished acorn and then use it as a guide to punch holes in the same spot on the other acorns.  String them through with twine and hang them festively on your wall.  Take it even further and hand cut letters from the darker wood grain contact paper to spell something out on the light part of the acorns!  

Can I say how excited I am about the end of the month's store opening at Red Velvet Art!  I really need to nail down my costume but I'm thinking it needs to be based around a vintage dress, don't you think?  Do you have any end of the month Halloween or otherwise festivities going on?  What were you for Halloween last year?

Thanks for having me, Elsie!  Happy decorating, ya'll!
xoxo,
Rachel

Comments

[Jessica]

Super cute!!

[KelsyC]

This project is so cute!

[kari]

ooooooooooooooo! i love this one! :D
so cute!

[Carrie Shan]

LoOoOoVE LOVE love this one. I have to do it!
I haven't been in the mood to decorate, but this one might just have put a pep in my step.

[gina f.]

i love this!!! Thanks so much!

[mandy d.]

I.....LOVE.....THIS.....GARLAND! :) We are starting a new church campus and our baby room theme is 'Woodlands' .... this will be a perfect addition to the room! Thanks for sharing! :)

[Lisa Ridgely]

This is a really cute idea for a garland. Thank you!

[Natalie Brooke]

Awwe this garland is adorable!! I love using wood grain paper too! :) Thanks for sharing!

http://nataliebrooke.wordpress.com

[Jenny]

My 2 year old wants to be super woman so I am doing the finishing touches on it (I can't wait to see her in it). And we have snow white and luke skywalker as well. Now if I can get these done by Sunday ;)

[Gabbie]

This is a great tutorial!!

[Fab]

So cute! They look awesome with the wood grain paper!

[anna]

This is awesome!!
I am going to use it to make little acorns to hang on my fall/halloween tree.
Oh & I was an indian last year (the boyf was a cowboy). I want to be casper and wendy this year.

[jari]

seriously cute!!!!!!! xoxo.

[Tracey]

What a lovely garland!!!
I think I will have to add some acorns to my felt leaf garland I have up right now.
Thanks for sharing Rachel!!!

[Lexi Bridges]

this is insane cuteness my friend!!!!

[sandy]

soooo cute!! I'm definitely going to make this during my downtime at work tomorrow!!!!!

[Andrea Thomasson]

This is great. Rachel is so cool! Geez.

[Beth]

Super cute Rachel. You girls always have something adorable up your sleeves!

[Jessica Wilson]

how cute! this would be good to save for year after year. I am glad we are still on fall...I do like to take a breather between summer and halloween and enjoy the acorns and leaves before we have to decorate with skeletons and witches!

[Jiji]

Oh my gosh, this is so cute! Who knew that wood grain contact paper could be so cute? I need to find some pronto!