DIY Fall Crafts with Woodland Supplies From The Catskills & Hudson Valley
Posted by Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty on Monday, November 21st, 2022 at 10:18am
At Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty we're realtors, and as such, we’re basically required to dig home décor – and we do - and DIYs are our favorite type; they’re fun, inexpensive, empowering, and a great departure from our devices. Here are a few of my favorite DIY ideas made with supplies you can find on the ground in the Hudson Valley and Catskills. Make one? Send us a pic!
Autumn is for apple-picking, finding the perfect pumpkin at a local patch, hiking through the veils of red, orange, yellow, and sienna… but sometimes it rains – or, in the case of this November – it snows! Whatcha gonna to do? Get crafty, of course! I always feel ready to do a few DIY crafts in the fall – this year, I’ve gathered quite a collection of treasures from my hikes, so I’m going to DIY using supplies gathered in the parks and the woods. Join me!
Every season, most decorations seem to revolve around an object; in spring, we decorate with eggs; summer with flowers; winter with greens; and in fall, we’re pretty focused on members of the gourd family. But this year I went down the gourd path so early that they’ve all gone off! So, I’m looking for something different for Thanksgiving - something that won’t draw fruit flies before I notice it’s starting to go. Enter: acorns.
I’ve found an array of charming acorn projects for beginner, intermediate, and experienced crafty-types. They delighted me enough that I thought them worth sharing. Gather your acorns in the morning and paint them, throw them in vases, or follow a tutorial to string them into a garland or wreath in the evening when it gets dark - like at 3:30. If you do the proper prepping and cleaning of your acorns, outdoor critters won’t become part of your mantle display!
Acorn Garland
This is really sharp. I love it in the monochromatic color-way this crafter has chosen. If I were making it I’d use some of the wool I’ve been hoarding from the NY Sheep and Wool Festival for the tassels on the end. If you missed the festival this year there are plenty of local sources for equally local fiber, try: The Knitting Room in Windham, Country Wool in Hudson, Mountain Yarns in Shandaken (how much do you double entendre name?!), Pine Woods Farm Wool Shop in Saugerties, Perfect Blend Yarn and Tea Shop also in Saugerties, Fabulous Yarn in Tivoli, Yarn Farm in Kingston, Rainbow Sheep Shoppe in Port Ewen, White Barn Farm Sheep and Wool in New Paltz. Holy smokes! There are a lot of places to get wool around here! To be continued below… I’ve also seen people make these garlands painting the acorns to look like Christmas bulbs – that’s cute too!
Acorn Wreath
This is such a beautiful wreath. One great thing about acorn and pinecone wreaths like this is they last for years and years if you store them properly. I made one when I was 11 as a scout project and we still displayed it well into my 20’s. Another is that they take a while to make. They are a great way to while away the seemingly endless nighttime hours this time of year and feel creative and useful while you cough potato. There’s no reason you can’t binge all of All Creatures Great and Small and make one of these simultaneously - other than that you might actually explode with holiday cheer while doing it.
Just The Caps
When you dry out your acorns in order to preserve them, a thing happens - most of them come away from their caps. You’ll have a pile of caps and a pile of corns (?) and if you’re not a patient person… well, matching them back up might not be for you. Or, perhaps like me, you’re hoarding wool and need to use some roving you’ve stashed for a little project that’s not too intense.
Keep the caps, compost the corns, and replace them with felted versions in pretty colors! Where can you obtain roving you ask? Here’s the remainder of my list of local wool purveyors. When you’re looking for roving, call ahead – not every shop carries both yarn and roving. More wool: Knit One, Needlepoint Two in Monticello, Fiber on Main in Hurleyville, Cornwall Yarn Shop in Cornwall, Yarn and Craft Box in Pawling, Morehouse Farm in Red Hook, Beetle and Fred in Beacon and The Endless Skein in Cold Spring.
Folk Art Painted Acorns
These are just. so. charming. I’d like to imagine that I have the painting skills to pull them off. I think the right tools are important – tiny brushes and a seam ripper for making dots (you didn’t mis-read, I went down an internet rabbit hole and saw more than one acorn painter using the tip of a seam ripper to place small dots of paint). The good news is that I’ve already given you a whole list of seam ripper sources – they should be available at most wool shops! For small brushes try Catskill Art or Hudson Valley Artist Shops.
While acorns may require a bit of a hunt, leaves and dried weeds do not – they’re everywhere. And though they’ve turned brown, you can still find beautiful specimens that are worthy of a DIY art project. While pressing flora in books is the most well-known way of preserving them, there plenty of others (some are better at maintaining autumn colors than others.) Check out Southern Living’s guide to choose your process.
After you preserve them, showcase bits of leaf and flower with a pin on a canvas, arrange them in a vase, découpage them onto a piece of glass, place them in a matted frame OR turn them into an ornament...
Salt Dough Ornaments
Leaves and acorns are homely things, why not use them with one of the most homely craft mediums in history? Salt dough. Salt dough is made from ingredients you’ll find in your pantry and can be manipulated like clay with less mess, time, and money.
The art of salt dough is an ancient one. In fact, its dates to ~2400BC in Ancient Egypt, where they created religious and ceremonial salt dough offerings as gifts to the gods. Salt dough’s beginning to seem a little more posh, no? Here's a great way to pair fall findings with dough. Make your dough, press leaves and hang them on a fallen branch. It’s hard to find projects that are as simple and as beautiful as this!
‘Tis the season to get crafty. I hope you enjoy at least one of these craft projects from your Local Expert in Upstate Real Estate.
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