Maker Mamas and {DIY} Felted Acorn Tutorial
To kick off our December maker mamas design camp series, we’re highlighting a local Raleigh group of maker moms who value building community as much as we do and are committed to creating playful learning experiences for kids. Read on for details on this great group—and their handy tutorial on how to create felted acorns!
This maker mom group gets together weekly at Maude’s Garden & Cafe in Raleigh for fellowship and to craft. They make handmade educational toys out of natural materials to help support their school, Raleigh Oaks Charter, a public Waldorf school.
What handmade items do you make together?
This year, we’re working on pinecone and felt woodland creature kits, felted acorns, and felt bookmarks, and peg doll kits to sell at our upcoming Winter Market, which will be Dec. 7 from 1-4 p.m. at Raleigh Oaks Charter. Our group and local vendors will be selling handmade items such as crochet critters, hats, scarves, books, wreathes, make-your-own stuffed animals, and recycled art.
Last year, the group made Waldorf felt dolls, peg dolls, flower fairy doll kits, worry doll kits, felt wands, felted acorns, nature journals, and fairy lantern jars. Some of our older children who became skilled in knitting made scarves and knitted animals to sell.
How did the maker mom craft group start?
The craft group started when a few of the moms went to lunch and figured out they had similarly matched interests. We liked to craft, we liked the sense of community in crafting together, and we needed to fundraise for the school. It is also pretty traditional in Waldorf for students to create items for a craft fair to sell.
Since our school was brand new, our students didn't have the handwork history to create items, but we wanted to keep the tradition of selling items, and we wanted to keep them as close to Waldorf as possible. Our inspiration was traditional Waldorf but also ways in which our community can bring Waldorf into their homes as a way to keep imaginations and creativity running outside of the education setting.
FELTED ACORNS
How incredible are these felted acorns? When we saw them we knew that we needed to know more. Well, guess what? Jennifer Westfall and her craft group not only told us how but agreed to share this tutorial on our blog!
FELTED ACORN TUTORIAL
Materials Needed:
- Wool roving
- Dish soap
- Hot water and bowl (I like to keep my hot water in a metal cup and pour a tiny amount on the wool over a bowl)
- Bowl of cold water
- Hot glue gun
- Acorn caps
Steps:
1. Enjoy a nature walk and gather acorn caps in various sizes, or order some online if you do not have access to acorn caps.
2. Pull off a small piece of roving, and separate the fibers a little so that you can see your hand through the wool.
3. Add a small drop of dish soap to the wool with a small amount of hot water.
4. Gently use your fingertips to start rolling the wool in the palm of your hand, adding small drops of hot water as needed.
5. With light pressure, continue to roll the wool in your palm.
6. As the ball begins to form, alternate adding drops of cold and hot water as you roll the ball in your palm with gradually increasing pressure.
7. As the ball begins to become firm, alternate rolling the ball in your palm and tossing/tumbling the ball between your palms until desired firmness and size is reached.
8. If a crease forms in your wool ball, add another drop of dish soap on the crease and agitate the wool with your fingertips. Continue to roll and toss the ball until the crease dissipates to your liking, adding alternating drops of hot and cold water as needed.
9. Try a few acorn caps on the ball to find the right size for your acorn.
10. Hot glue the acorn cap to the acorn body, and enjoy your new natural decor!
