For this year’s #autumnjubilee2020, I tried something new and I hope you have fun reading about this project. I did this project in just a couple of hours, having some fun while I watched old black and white horror movies on TV. Watching the original 1931 Dracula with Bella Lugosi and more of his horror classics, 1940s Frankenstein movies starring Peter Cushing, and more tales of terror with Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr, Claude Rains, Lionel Atwill, Bette Davis, Lionel Barrymore, Basil Rathbone and many more is such fun on a rainy day. TCM is showing a bunch this month, and I’m not going to admit how many I have on DVD. Anyway, I set up a work space on my basement table with all the supplies needed – wool roving, two bowls, a big towel underneath, and my hot pot that keeps water hot. Not in the picture is some dish soap.
What are we making today? Wool acorns! My friend Mary makes these often, and I have wanted to try it. I ordered the roving a few weeks ago, and found a good day to try it. I will refer you to youtube for videos on the step by step process, there are many there to see. I watched several, and although they each had a slightly different method, some things were common to all. I started this project by going outside and gathering acorn caps from the front yard and meadow.
Begin the acorns by pulling off a small bit of wool and separating the fibers.
Stack the fibers, one horizontal layer alternating with a vertical layer, and repeating until you have a nice amount that fits in the palm of your hand. Put a dot of dish soap in the center and begin working it into the fibers, moving in a circular motion to gather the edges into the ball.
Work the ball by rolling it lightly, in your hands, and on the towel.
Dipping it in hot water, rolling, then in cold water and continue rolling. As the ball gets smaller, apply more pressure to form a tight felted ball. I still have more to do on this one, as it is still too large for the acorn cap.
More rolling, then I found a larger cap, and this one looks right.
Next time, I used a bit less roving in a gold color.
Soap, water, roll, hot water, roll, cold water, roll, repeat until the next ball is done.
Then I tried mixing colors.
These are looking good for a double cap.
It took about 7-8 minutes to make each little ball.
I let them dry overnight, then heated up the hot glue gun to finish the acorns. A bit of glue in the cap, then press the wool ball into it.
First six done!
Then another dozen, so fast and fun to make.
I didn’t spend any time on Halloween this year, so here are a couple of posts from previous Autumn Jubilees for some ideas. This year, it might be fun to make treat bags for your neighbors with my post Being the Great Pumpkin. Just leave one on a doorknob to bring some cheer particularly for those pretty much stuck at home.
For the kids, a fun project is to craft Hogwarts Textbooks from real books by adding cover details.
Today’s giveaway is sponsored by From My Carolina Home, including everything you see here. It is a medium flat rate box stuffed with a charm pack, patterns, gardening essays, Milk Street magazines, books, batting samples and more. It is a wide variety, just like my blog is a variety of subjects. US shipping only.
Leave a comment on this post, do you do any crafting in the fall? Then click on the Rafflecopter button to enter the drawing. Hurry, this one ends in 2 days.
Fat Quarter Shop has 20% Off Moda Basics Essential Dots and Essentially Yours fabrics the Basic of the Month, plus 30% Off Aurifil Threads the Notion of the Month, and specials on the Book of the Month and Precut of the Week. Check out the Daily Flash Sale – something new at clearance pricing every day!
From My Carolina Home 
Yes I do fall with you every year.
Love the rich colors of the wool acorns. Also like that it is a small, quick project.
I only do fabric crafting most of the time. I don’t have the time to try new projects.
I really like your wool acorns. I really haven’t done anything with wool except applique!
I am in love!!! I bought some felted acorns last year, and I really love scattering them around as soon as September hits. What a great little project, Carole.
You’ve gotten some very good results. As you noted….one needs to find the right size cap to fit the finished felted bottom.
I a m working on a Halloween project now. Just finished a Christmas wall hanging. Cute acorns, think I will try to make some. Thx for the instructions!
I love the acorns! Thanks for the great giveaways and all your work!
I love the wool acorns! I have a friend and blogger who is in north AL that makes these. Thanks for sharing your process in making them. It’s been a great Autumn Jubilee!!
I am going to paint pumpkins with grandkids
Those acorns are adorable. The real acorns feed the wildlife while the felted ones feed your spirit. I’ve done a fair amount of felting, but started by knitting something oversize & felting it until it was the correct size. It takes a long time to do all the knitting compared to the time spent felting! A tote bags I made was embellished by needle felting flower petals & leaves on the front. It went to a silent auction fund raiser for the hospital where I worked.
I love the wool roving acorns. They are so charming in your leaf bowl. I love everything fall. Thanks for the different projects during Autumn Jubilee.
Love the acorns, but spend most of my time on quilts.
I mainly make crafts with my kids, besides quilting projects. We do a lot of construction paper projects and of course we always carve pumpkins.
I usually make wreaths (along with quilting of course),. Love this row by row mystery you are doing, thanks.
I have done a fall craft several times, but ran out of steam with a previous year’s idea after gathering the supplies. Now, I often see the wire wreath and orange mesh that I purchased for it along with the container of seed pods. Perhaps your craft will be the spark I need to complete the wreath this year.
Connie
Yes I do fabric crafts. Stuffed pumpkins, wall hangings etc. Love you blog.
Thanks for the tutorial on felted acorns.
Most often, fall crafting involves items of nature including cornstalk dolls and painting pumpkins with the grands. They love finding the perfect branch for making the handle of the recycled cloth pumpkins. would love to try the acorn making; what a great project esp the collecting of the acorn tops!
I love the acorns Carole and what a fun giveaway. I don’t do too much anymore for Halloween but I have pottery halloween “sacks” that I add tea lights to
OH, one of our guild’s wool folks showed these last meeting – so cute! I don’t really craft for the fall season, but do notice that my sewing fabric colors reflect.
I love the little wool acorns. They are so colorful and cheery. I’ve wanted to do some in Clay, but I do like that wool.
A cute project
I was expecting autumn colored dryer balls!! These are really cute. Thanks for all your hard work that you put into the Autumn Jubilee.
I think I probably craft more in the fall than any other season! I love all things fall. Your acorns are so cute! I do acorns as well … just a little differently. But they’re all over the place at home and at work! They make great bowl- and glass-fillers! 🙂
I enjoy reading your posts and getting ideas for my own projects.
What a cute project and so easy. I also enjoy the old black & white shows.
I do some crafting in the fall. I like your acorns.
Such cute acorns! Thanks for the giveaway!
Your acorns are just darling! So cute in the bowl. I love acorns (good thing, since we always have so many every fall) and found some lovely wooden ones someone lovingly tooled that I put out every year. Have never worked with wool roving—will have to try it at some point.
Oh, how I love your sweet acorns! I’d love to make a bowlful of them!
My crafting in the fall is mostly sewing and quilting, altho I’ve been tempted to pick up my paintbrush again and paint a pumpkin scene.
duchick at gmail dot com
I love your little acorns. I’m not into crafting much but it sure looks like a fun project.
Love those acorns. What a perfect fall project. To answer your question, yes I craft in the fall…all year round actually. But fall is a wonderful time to crochet afghans, which is not a fun project on a hot day!
Love these charming little acorns!!
Yup, I do a LOT of crafting in the fall…largely papercrafting and some sewing for gifts, such as pillowcases and wine bottle bags, for example.
I love those wool acorns, I have some that a friend painted and more made with fabric. Haven’t tried the wool roving but it doesn’t look too hard. So cute.
I did a Halloween table topper this Fall, as well as finished a Maple Leaf table runner that was started several years ago. I really enjoy all your ideas for Autumn Jubilee!
Very creative Fall project. The most beautiful acorns I’ve ever seen. And thank you for sharing the old spooky movies that are being shared on TCM. i will definitely start watching and we’ve been trying to figure out which spooky movie we wanted to watch on Halloween, so TCM sounds like a good source for festive entertainment.
Lovely! and so fun to make. I think the little ones could even do this. Would love to see these as jewelry too. Thanks!
LOVE the Acorns!! Will try a batch here,,& know Daughter in NC will too 🙂 I do a little Fall crafting some years.. but most are sewing stuffed things Or Pillows etc for here . & gifts.. Thank you for chance to win your give-a-way too…
This month has flown by, but Autumn Jubilee has made it a fun month! I’m making some wreaths for a couple of elderly friends and will include a jar of peach peeling jelly, apple butter and a half dozen homemade English muffins. I’ll call them and set the basket on their porch. Love your little acorns, but since my yard if full of acorns and squirrels (nuisances as they dig my flowers out of the pots), I probably won’t be making any. LOL!!!
These are so cute! Oak trees a re not so common here, I actually picked up my first real acorn a few weeks ago when walking g through the park. I actually remembered there was an oak tree there, and found a few before the squirrels got them! I have started Christmas ornaments for my students, so I guess that would be my fall craft. 😉
So cute🙂
Do not do much crafting for the season, since I am busy teaching, but do like to work on quilts that relate, for example working on a couple of Baltimore Halloween blocks now to get into the holiday feeling.
I love those wool acorns. Fall is when I am at my busiest with working at my high school and teaching at my university. I rarely have time to do any fall crafts. I was hoping to make some Thanksgiving place cards this year with the hope that they might actually get used this year. We shall see.
Yes! I recently made a couple of hexagon pumpkin candle mats as gifts. These acorns are cuties. Thanks for sharing!
Our Fall crafting has all been Halloween related, lots of decorations for the yard and house. Next week, maybe felted acorns!
I occasionally do Fall crafts. It all depends on what else I have going on in my life. I usually do things with leaves I have found on my walks or with dried flowers from my garden.
I love this – I am going to make acorns!!
Cute acorns!!:) Yes I craft in the fall and it varies what I want to do or work on.
I’ve not done specific fall crafts, but have a number of quilts I’ve made in fall colors. Fall is my favorite season and I love the glorious colors, reds, oranges, and golds that shine in Autumn. Your little acorns are cute, I have a pillow I outlined in quilted acorns, but have never done any felting.
Your acorns are so cute! What a clever idea. I have some string pumpkins that I have been working on a couple of years. I pull it out this time of year, get a few more done, and then put it away until next year. One of these years I’ll have enough to make my quilt!
My crafting in the fall is usually pillows or pillowcases.
Love the ideas. The acorns are perfect and who wouldn’t want a Hogwarts textbook
Such a cool project! Love the acorns.
I do not have any craft projects this fall. Leaves are in abundance and I need to tackle that task first.
I craft year round! Love your little yarn balls, so cute.
Carla from Utah
Love your acorns! I have received some felted acorns made in lime green, purples, blue, etc. They remind us of our former home where we had a 2nd growth southern red oak in our front yard. It was researched extensively and finally put on the historic register as the largest southern red oak in Northern Virginia so it and its root system is protected. We loved all our wonderful oaks, but now live in Tucson among the giant saguaros. I think you could spray gold or silver on the caps to fill with Christmas colors. Thanks for your interesting blog and fun projects.
Hello Carole, Since discovering your blog and following Autumn Jubilee, I have started doing all sorts of new projects in the Fall both with Autumn and some with Halloween. I am going to be posting several photos here in a bit of several projects I have been having so much fun with, in between helping my Mom. I am not sure the Acorn Balls are my cup of tea, but they are adorable! What exactly do you do with with, Carole? They would look excellent on wreaths and your table settings, plus now that my brain is thinking it is putting together other ideas…but still, I would like to know what you plan on doing with the ones you are making! Thank you for sharing all of these great projects for us to do! Have a spectacular evening!!
I do crafting all year, including the fall. Your acorn project is so cute. Unfortunately I can’t do it because there are no acorns around here.
I’ll have to beat the acorn woodpeckers that snatch up all of our acorns! What a cute project.
I live in an oak savanna, so really no excuse not to try this adorable project.
Love your acorns. Will be trying these. Thank you for the ideas you post. Working on the row quilt. Blessings
I actually do a lot of crafting in the fall. I have to say that 90% of it though is Christmas items that I am crafting.
I made wool acorns this year but just cut small felted wool circles, gathered and stuffed with batting and then fabric glued on the acorn caps. We have one oak tree that the caps are almost the size of quarters but it doesn’t have lots of acorns so they are quickly gathered to try and beat the squirrels! Maybe they taste better than all the other smaller acorns and they squirrels beat me!
I do crafting all year long, and I love this acorn project! What a great thing to do when we have children visiting. I could send them outside to find the acorns, then engage them with the tactile fun of shaping the wool, and send them home with gifts for their family and teachers. Thanks so much for sharing this.
The acorns are adorable. I certainly have plenty in my yard.
Love your acorns, they turned out so cute! I’ve always wanted to make some.
Very cute acorns. I enjoy making seasonal quilted postcards and mug rugs as gifts. I love the idea of acting as the Great Pumpkin. Thanks for sharing.
I love these acorns! Thank you for sharing how you make them. I enjoy celebrating Autumn with you each year 🙂 Autumn fun around here usually involves pumpkins…in cloth or baking 🙂
Right now I am sewing lots of fall table runners and sending them to friends! I haven’t done a crafty thing like your acorns though. Every now and then I do some crafty (non-quilting) things but most of my creative energy is devoted to making quilted things.
This !ooks so fun! I’ve been making pumpkin & maple leaf quilt blocks.
The little wool acorns are delightful Looks like a bit of fun to have with the grandies.
I love crafting all year long!
Love the acorns. I did finish 2 Halloween wall hanging I have had for years. Halloween is my favorite holiday.