DIY Miniature Wood Bowls

Make your own miniature wood bowls for your dollhouse using acorn caps and craft supplies you probably already have on hand for an easy and inexpensive dollhouse DIY project!

In the world of 3D-printing, you can totally go down the rabbit hole of finding cool new miniatures for your dollhouse. Whether you are printing them yourself or purchasing the minis from someone else, this can be a very expensive hobby!

I am always looking for cheap and easy ways to add furnishings and accessories to my dollhouse because, well, I live on a tight budget! And although I do have a 3D printer, I still haven’t mastered it – add that to my to-do list!

I kept seeing this acorn craft (aka acorn cap jewels) on instagram and immediately knew I had to make some miniature bowls for my dollhouse. I tried several colors and techniques and they turned out SO CUTE!!!!

I styled them all differently so they can be used in a beach house, farm house or even a modern dollhouse. You can glam them up with metallic paints for a chic look, or use other colors to match a room’s theme or even a holiday.

I found a bag of old acorn caps I collected years ago and they look a little more worn and less bumpy then most acorns. You can sand them down if you like how this looks.

Supplies you need

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• Acorn caps: You only need the caps of the acorns and you can use any size you like. Collect from your yard or purchase them online.
• Felt tip markers: I made a few of these bowls with felt tip markers (pink and green). Yup, the popular kids markers, whether fat tipped or thin. They came out a little dark for me, but still looked nice.
• Paints: For brighter colors, you can also use acrylic paint. I tried some with a teal green paint and gold and love how they turned out. If painting, you will also need small paint brushes.
• White glue: You can use simple cheap white glue for this project. I used Aleen’s tacky glue, but it was a little thick and I had to spread it around with a toothpick. For paints, you can also use Mod Podge, like Matte or Gloss or Waterproof.
• Sand paper: For the acorn bowls to sit flat and not wobble, I gently sanded the bottom of the acorn cap.

Step-by-step directions

1. Prep the acorns. Wipe the acorn caps with a damp cloth. Sand the bottom of the acorn “bowl” so it can stand level without wobbling.
2. Add color. Using markers or paint, color the inside of the bowl up to the rim.
3. Add glue. If using markers, add glue right after coloring. Fill the bowl with white glue, using a toothpick to cover the entire bowl. This gives the bowl a very shiny resin like finish (see the pink bowl). If using paint, wait until the paint dries then add glue. You can also brush the bowls with Mod Podge, which I did for the teal, green and gold bowls.
4. Let it dry. Let the bowls sit untouched until the glue is completely dry.

Project tips and FAQs

Acorn caps come in different sizes. Some are more shallow than others. My older acorn caps had a more worn look to them and they resemble wood. They also seemed more porous than newer acorn caps.

The markers I used shown bright on white paper, but ended being dark on the acorn. From what I have seen in other websites, the markers show up brighter so test it out with the acorn caps you have.

Acrylic paints took a few coats to totally cover the inside of the bowls, but they dried brighter than the markers.

Again, the final finish varies depending on whether you brush on Mod Podge, brush on thinned white glue or fill the bowls with white glue and let it dry completely. You could even use UV resin, if you want.

So what do YOU think? Which bowl is your favorite?

For more trash to treasure projects, check out my post on making dollhouse miniatures from plastic pull tabs and how you can easily make mini baskets.

PS If you try this craft, why not leave a star rating in the direction card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

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