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DIY Fall Garland Using Acorns

Looking for a cute and easy DIY fall garland? I made one using unfinished wood beads and acorns we picked up while on a walk!

Simple DIY fall garland made with wood beads and acorns

Hello all! It’s been a little while since I did a quick and easy craft. There are a few trees in the front of our neighborhood that are dropping acorns like crazy, and one day my daughter and I decided to collect a bowl full of them.

We have gotten a shocking amount of entertainment out of them (she calls them gumballs and also likes to pretend they are soup). But they are just so cute and perfect that I also decided I wanted to make something out of them!

So we headed back out one day after work to get a few more that I could use to make a DIY fall garland. This is a super easy DIY that I didn’t spend any money on since the wood beads were reused from my DIY wood bead garland I made for our little christmas tree a few years ago!

bowl of acorns

Here’s what I used:

And here’s how I made my simple DIY fall garland!

(Remember to always take the proper precautions when working with power tools, including reading all instructions and wearing safety gear.)

Step 1: Drill holes in the acorns

I’m actually not exactly sure what type of acorns these are, but they sure are cute! They don’t have the little acorn hats (which is what we call them, anyway), but they still work just fine. I gathered a plastic bag full of them from the ground and headed back to the garage.

I decided to use a 1/8″ drill bit to drill the holes. This was based on the size string I had. I didn’t want to hole to be huge—just big enough to squeeze the string through!

I held the acorn in place while drilling a hole down through it. Make sure the surface below the acorn is something you don’t mind getting scuffed up since the drill bit will pop through.

Also, heads up that you’ll probably get a bit of some gooey acorn insides—this is ok. Just clean off the bit as necessary as you go.

acorns in a hand
two acorns with holes drilled in them
hand holding an acorn

Step 2: Clean and dry acorns

Next I washed off the acorns to clean them up. I laid them out on a towel and let them dry for about 24 hours on the kitchen table before getting to work!

For more fall- and winter-themed crafts, check out my DIY wood bead ornaments, my dollar store painted foam pumpkins, and my DIY marbled clay Christmas tree ornaments!

hand holding acorns with holes drilled in them

Step 3: String acorns and beads on to create the DIY fall garland!

I originally want to use only acorns. But then I realized I had some small wooden beads in my craft closet and decided they would be a good way to add some interest to the garland. After trying a few combinations of big, small, long, and short beads, I decided on this pattern: three small beads, acorn, three small beads, acorn.

The beads also meant I had to drill fewer acorn holes, which was great because my hand was really starting to hurt after like 20 of them!

I didn’t have a big beading needle, but I did have a ring pin from way back when I made some DIY resin play jewelry! Luckily it was about the perfect size to easily pull the string through the acorn holes. I could just poke the string through the small wood beads myself.

threading acorns onto a string to make a DIY fall garland
threading acorns onto a string to make a DIY fall garland
threading acorns and wood beads onto a string to make a DIY fall garland
threading wood beads onto a string
DIY fall garland with wood beads and acorns
DIY fall garland with wood beads and acorns
DIY fall garland with wood beads and acorns

And here is the finished DIY fall garland using acorns!

And that’s about it! I did this while watching something on my computer, so it definitely isn’t a high-effort craft. You can tie off the ends to make sure the acorns and beads don’t slip off the string, or you can just hang it.

The acorns will begin to crack a bit as they dry, but I think that gives it some more character. After all, these are real acorns, so they don’t stay perfect forever. And when we take it down, I’ll throw the acorns back outside and reuse the wood beads for something else 🙂

DIY fall garland with wood beads and acorns
DIY fall garland with wood beads and acorns
DIY fall garland with wood beads and acorns on a stand with plants

Pin my DIY fall garland!

pinnable grpahic about a DIY fall garland using acorns including images and text overlay

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