Are you ready for autumn? Learn how to dry acorns for your fall projects! Prevent worms and find out how to preserve the acorns for decor.
When fall comes around, I’m ready to go outside and start harvesting natural materials for craft projects. One of my favorite things to find are those big, fat acorns that come from majestic oak trees. In fact, one year I painted them (in my article how to paint acorns for fall).
But what I didn’t realize is that you have to dry them or there will be beasties – i.e. weevil larvae – that will crawl out of them. I’m going to show you how to dry acorns for craft projects so that you never have to be grossed out by acorn beasties again.
What I didn’t know – the reason that the acorns you collect on the ground are the worm-y ones is because the squirrels leave them behind. Of course they do.
Squirrels are smart and can figure out to how to eat from the most complicated bird feeder. So they’re going to leave the nasty worm nuts behind.
The good news is the weevil larvae can’t hurt you. They don’t bite and they won’t ruin anything in your home if one gets out. However, you don’t want to have to deal with them, so you’ll want to dry them first before crafting with them. Learn how to dry acorns for acorn crafts below!
How to Preserve Acorns
Gather These Supplies
Acorns
Oven
Cookie sheet
Bowl of water or colander
Mild soap (like dish soap)
Wash Them Off
After harvesting your acorns, put them in a bowl of water to soak or a colander and rinse them. Add a little bit of dishwashing liquid.
You might want to use an old toothbrush to scrub off any debris, if you have one. Otherwise soaking them in a bowl will remove most of the dirt.
Let Dry
Spread them on a towel to dry for at least an hour. If any of the nuts look gross after washing and drying, throw them away.
You might see some acorns with small holes. This is a sign that something has gotten into the nut, but drying the acorns will kill them so don’t worry!
Bake the Acorns
Preheat your oven to the lowest setting F or C – mine is 200ºF so that’s what I did. Lay the acorns in a single layer on a cookie sheet. You’ll want to use a cookie sheet with a lip so none of the nuts roll off.
Place the acorns in the oven on the cookie sheet and leave the door cracked slightly so that moisture can escape.
Check Every 30 Minutes
Check on the acorns every 30 minutes and roll them around a bit. If you see any acorns starting to brown too much, turn the oven off and leave the acorns in there. They will still “cook.”
You’ll want to leave the acorns in the oven for about 1.5 – 2 hours.
Remove and Cool
Remove the nuts from the oven and let cool. Throw away any that burned. Now you know how to dry acorns and you can use them in all of your craft projects!
Preserve if Desired
Now if you want to preserve the acorns, you can take an extra step. However, you don’t *have* to do this as they will last a long time just being dried out.
However, if you want to make sure they last for years and years and never fall apart, I recommend giving them a quick spray with a clear acrylic sealer. Blast them, let dry, turn them over, and repeat.
That’s about all you need to do! They are ready to display “as is,” or you can use them in any fall projects.
Do you have any questions, thoughts, tips or tricks? Leave me a comment!