Kid's Project: Molded Acorns

Autumn decorations are getting a lot of attention in our house right now, so we decided to make some clay acorns to display.

I had these silicone molds from another project, but they were perfect for working with the clay. 

Silicone acorn molds

For this project, we used Delight™ air dry modeling compound because it releases from the silicone molds so easily.

We pressed a small ball of Delight™ into the molds, turned the mold over (open side down) and pressed the top of the mold to ensure the compound completely filled the mold. Then, we gently pulled away the excess from the edges of the molds.

Delight™ in the acorn mold

When the mold was flexed, the acorns popped right out. We set them aside to dry overnight. Here is a sample of our dried acorns, ready for trimming, sanding, and painting.

Acorns ready for trimming, sanding, and painting

I used scissors to trim the acorns, and jeweler's files to sand some of the cut edges. The Delight™ molded beautifully!! No sanding at all required on the surface of the acorns. Yeah!! I'm not a sanding fan. And it captured the details of the molds.

Trimmed and sanding acorns

I used acrylic paints on these acorns. While the paint was still wet I sprinkled some with mica dust. Here's a sample of our autumn acorn decorations.

Finished acorns made with Delight™

With the addition of some hardware, these would also make great refrigerator magnets or pins and pendents. 

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell