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Garden Sanity by Pet Scribbles

Paper Maché Acorn Boxes: Easy Paint DIY

This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through any link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Any supplies used may be given to me free of charge, however, all projects and opinions are my own.


November 19, 2013 By Laura

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Here’s a fun project: painting premade paper maché acorn boxes! It doesn’t take long at all, and you can use these boxes in so many ways, whether as favors, ornaments, or display a bunch of them in a bowl!
Acorn Boxes: painted, gilded and glazed! An easy DIY!

I was lucky enough to purchase these acorn boxes last year on clearance, but they can still be found on Amazon and if you have Amazon Prime like I do (oh what did we do before Amazon Prime?), you can order them today and have them ready to paint in a few days!

FTC Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. I explain more here.

Paper Maché Acorn Boxes: Easy Paint DIY

Supplies needed:

 

  • Paper Maché Acorn Boxes — Martha Stewart on Amazon
  • Martha Stewart Liquid Gilding (gold)
  • DecoArt Acrylic Craft Paint in Espresso
  • DecoArt Dazzling Metallic Paint in Peacock Pearl
  • Paint brushes
  • Brown silk cording (optional)

Tutorial:

Step One: Paint the bottom half of each acorn box with gold liquid gilding. I only needed to paint one coat. Let dry.

gold liquid gilding on paper maché acorn boxes

Step Two: Paint the top half of each acorn box with brown craft paint. I used two coats, letting the first coat dry before applying the second.

brown craft paint on paper maché acorn boxes

Notice how I painted the coats roughly, meaning that I left certain recessed areas unpainted. The paper maché soaks in the paint easily, and if you miss a few spots, you’ll cover them up in the next step. (I told you this was easy!)

brown paint roughly painted on acorn boxes

Step Three: Apply the Dazzling Metallic Paint in Peacock Pearl over the brown painted areas very lightly. You want the brown paint to still show through at first, then slowly build up the color.

Dazzling Metallic Glaze applied over craft paint
I ended up painting two light coats of Peacock Pearl over the brown paint.

 

Step Four: Take some brown cording, wrap around each box two or three times, then tie in a knot to secure. This step is optional, but does give the boxes a more finished look to them. You could also use ribbon, seam binding, lace or other decorative trims.

 

brown cording wrapped around acorn box
And now you have some pretty decorations for Thanksgiving!
Acorn Boxes: painted, gilded and glazed! An easy DIY!
Acorn Boxes, painted, gilded and glazed

Save these to use again next year for your entire Fall season! That’s what I’m doing!

Acorn Paper Maché Boxes, gilded and glazed

Happy crafting!

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Filed Under: Crafts & DIY, Fall Crafts Tagged With: acorns, Autumn decor, Dazzling Metallics, DecoArt, Fall decorating, gilded ornaments, gold gilding, last minute Thanksgiving decor, liquid gilding, Martha Stewart Crafts, paper mache box, paper maché boxes, Plaid Crafts, Thanksgiving decor

Previous Post: « Christmas Ornament Makeover with liquid gilding and metallic glazes
Next Post: Holiday Gift Box DIY: an easy decoupage craft! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Paula@SweetPea

    November 20, 2013 at 11:10 am

    Fall is one of my favorite seasons for decorating. I can think of many ways that I’d use this cute craft in my home.

    • Laura / The Shed by Pet Scribbles

      November 20, 2013 at 2:14 pm

      Me too Paula – I love the versatility of Fall decorating, and the nice length of time we get to enjoy the decorations too! 🙂

  2. Amy*

    November 20, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    These are too cute Laura! Your photos are fab too…which reminds me about the photo tutorial you promised me once upon a time 🙂

    Such a fun project…off to Amazon I go!

    Amy*

    • Laura / The Shed by Pet Scribbles

      November 21, 2013 at 1:08 am

      Thanks Amy! So glad you like it, as you too know how much fun it is to transform things with paint!

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Welcome to Garden Sanity by Pet Scribbles. I’m Laura, an artist and self-taught gardener. Gardening is therapeutic for me, peaceful and calming. I write articles and film videos centered around my own gardens, with plenty of plant suggestions and gardening tips. I’m glad you’re here and happy to share my garden inspiration with you!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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