Making Needle Felted Acorns

This is a great introductory lesson for those interested in learning needle felting! This instruct able will go over the basics in both dry and wet felting.

You will need:

• merino wool, various colours
• acorn caps
• size 38 and 40 needles
• soap and hot water
• bowl
• mixing spoon

Gather a small amount of merino wool and form a loose ball shape with your hands. Start with a size 38 felting needle and poke at the ball in multiple areas, constantly keeping the ball rotating so one spot isn't poked at too much. Once the ball is holding it's shape and denser, but still squishy, move up to a size 40 needle which will be faster at getting a denser ball.

Once the ball is roughly ping pong ball size, dense, but still has give, it is ready for wet felting.

This step should take 10-20 minutes.

Once you have a number of balls dry felted, it's time to wet felt.

Boil a bowl full of water and pour into a bowl with about a dime's worth of regular dish soap. Add the dry balls and stir with a spoon.

Drain the water, leaving just the balls. They will be hot, be careful.

Once they have cooled enough to touch, rub them in circle motions. You will feel the ball get smaller and denser. Make sure the ball maintains it's shape. Continue to do this until each ball is quite dense, about 2-3minutes per ball.

Leave them on a paper towel to dry for 1-2 days.

Once your wool balls have dried thoroughly, you can add the acorn top. I have collected my acorn tops from a nearby tree and washed them in water and let dry.

I've used regular school glue and added a small dollop to the top. Place a well-fitted wool ball to the acorn top and squish together until it holds. Hot glue or crazy glue would work for this as well.

Let them dry for a few hours before using them in projects.

Voila! You have an adorable collection of felted acorns. They make great ornaments by added a string to the top, or magnets, or additions to a centrepiece etc.