Around here I talk a lot about decorating.
Okay—sometimes I talk about Lee Press On Nails and shopping the side of the road and bad hair days and football and the best cookies on the planet.
But decorating is definitely number one at the top of my talking-about list.
However today?
Today I’m going to share a story that’s not for the faint of heart—a cautionary tale.
Truth?
I shuddered and cringed a little bit even typing the words to this post.
It’s a story that needs to be told.
So instead of talking about decorating right now? Instead of showing you a mantel or a coffee table or a staircase or all of my fall front porches through the years.
Instead?
I’m going to discuss the ONE THING you should never decorate with for fall.
Fall is the season to bring the outside in.
I love shopping the yard for all the fall decor. Just between us, there’s nothing prettier for fall than a branch that’s full of leaves that have dried perfectly in place with all the fall colors.
When you bring the branch in and add it to a vase and leave the leaves exactly how you found them?
It looks fancy.
It looks professional.
It looks like art.
Yesterday I took Buddy out for a walk and saw this in our driveway.
Isn’t it beautiful?
Doesn’t it look like art?
Natures’s perfect way of celebrating the season.
Our backyard is FULL of acorns like this.
There are hundreds of them scattered all over the yard that crunch under your feet.
Those acorns look like the perfect way to decorate for fall for FREE.
Several years ago I was planning a party and walked outside and saw those acorns all over the ground. I was having a party and I wanted to create a truly authentic fall feel for the house—so I brought the outside in.
Just like they do in the magazines.
I don’t have a picture of the display.
I was in a hurry and didn’t take pictures, but I found this example so you can get the idea. This is kind of the look, but instead of a birch vase like this (which was a much better choice), I used giant glass urns instead.
I added acorns from the yard as the base and tucked branches into them and strung tiny bits of twine from branch to branch and wrote thankful quotes on pieces of paper and tied them onto the twine.
Isn’t that the cutest idea? I was patting myself on my fall decorating back.
Seriously.
All that fall glory for free.
People came to the party and ooohed and ahhed and told me how much they loved the idea of going all Little House on the Prairie and decorating with nature. And I decided right then and there—why ever decorate with anything else? I told myself that I was never wasting another dime on store-bought decorations when nature had already done such an amazing job.
Truly.
Think of all the money I’d save on fall decor.
Visions of dried leaf garland and acorn garland and acorns on branches and acorn wreaths and the house swagged with all the fall that I had I gathered from my yard.
I was going to be literally the most brilliant fall decorator on the planet.
Until.
Until a week later when I was cleaning and something caught my eye.
A wiggle.
What in the world?
I thought it was a trick of sunlight. So I walked up closer and looked at the bottom of the vase.
AND SCREAMED.
I cannot.
I will not.
I am completely and utterly unable to say out loud what was coming out of the acorns and wiggling all over the bottom of the vase. Not just one wiggle or two wiggles.
Just between us that vase WAS FULL TO THE BRIM OF WIGGLES.
We are not discussing what it was that I found in those acorns.
You are probably drinking coffee right now and I want to still be friends.
Just know that I took the urns and those acorns outside back where they came from…..
…..never to return again.
And now I buy all my acorns in plastic bags from the store.
Because those types acorns?
They are guaranteed to be wiggle-free.
So when you decorate for fall. Bring in the branches. Bring in the fall flowers.
But the acorns?
They are part of nature that is amazing and wonderful and brilliant and awe-inspiring…..
….especially when it’s left outside. 🙂
I've had acorns for years and never had any wiggles. But I did bake them on low for a little. The same with pinecones, you have to clean them. You do not have to use bleach but you should bake them for a bit. Your decor always looks beautiful.
Yes absolutely bake them. We have no acorns where I live, but have baked pinecones for years. Usually at 250 for an hours or so. Thank you for your posts, you truly are an inspirations!
😏....I learned a GOOD lesson while wintering in Florida at Sebastian Inlet a few years ago. I decided it would be beautiful to collect some moss from the plentiful supply in the campground and transplant it in the branches of my trees at home. Right before traveling back to NCin the spring I started my harvest (with permission, of course). I had a huge collection of the stuff outside our motor home until it was time to leave. Then I tucked my 30 gallon bags into the side compartments and I took some inside to store behind the sofa (I had friends and family who wanted some too!). The next morning we were crawling with little insects. Some of them enjoyed breakfast on us....literally😳!!. Those bags got left in south carolina but most of the escapees made it to The Tarheel State. I start itching everything I think about it!! Somewhere in South Carolina there is a beautiful arbor of Live Oaks decorated with moss that is SO serene and inviting. A perfect picnic spot! Bring Off and Calidryl lotion along with your blanket and picnic basket! YOU HAVE BEEN FORWARNED!!!
Oh, that was my first lesson about the moss when I moved to SC. Leave the moss in the trees. Chiggers, ticks, spiders... oh my!
Oh my...you made me laugh ! I'm sure it wasn't funny when it happened. I do love your post Happy Fall
Lol 😅 oh yes I remember that story. It was funny before and still funny. Have a great day funny lady.
You convinced me to only bring in branches. Sorry!!
Actually I was drinking coffee so thank you for not going where my imagination was already headed. And hats off to the person who posted she bakes her pine ones and acorns first….i can’t go there either! My home backs to woods with plenty of nature but I’m forever all about the nature in bags from Amazon, Hobby Lobby or Walmart. KariAnne your decor always inspires me to try a little harder when I decorate. I’m with you…nature is free, but it definitely deserves its rightful place outdoors in all its Fall glory! Thx for sharing🍂
You can seal the acorns tightly in a ziplock bag and put the bag in the freezer for a couple of weeks, but I don't think it is worth it for acorns. Years ago we did do that when we were collecting Oaxacan Alebrijes In Mexico - their beautiful brightly painted whimsical folk art animals carved from copal wood. When we first spotted little piles of sawdust around the base of a carving, we were horrified like you with your acorn wiggles. Copal wood, it turned out, was particularly susceptible to hungry worms - we learned very quickly to always freeze new acquisitions before putting them on display! I will leave acorns outside in nature for the squirrels and woodpeckers 🙂
I had heard about acorns and that you should bake them first, but I decided if you had to do that it wouldn't be worth it. What if you didn't do it long enough, too many questions for me. LOL
Or gross out of worms bursting in the heat and worm g...ts plastered all over the oven interior. I've used real acorns before and now never will again. A few had a tiny hole into them. Now I know why!
I knew where this story was going. That protein source is what the squirrels are after🐛. 🍁🍂
Yup! With coffee in hand I read this! How did you know?!
Hilarious story! Thank you for taking one for the Team!! Enjoy your day! ;)
I advise putting the acorns on a baking sheet into a 200* oven for 1 hour….
So I have an interesting story about a topiary I made from red dyed Pistachios from a design idea that Martha S showed years ago. The topiary consisted of a vintage clay pot, a wooden dowl painted brown, a Styrofoam ball painted red and red pistachios. I glued them on, and it was darling. Placed it in my living room on a side table. Much later I was sitting there talking to my mom and caught a movement from my peripheral vision. I looked over and saw the topiary was covered in a fine web and wiggly worms were all over it. I took it out to my garage put it in a plastic bag and sprayed with bug spray and threw it in the garbage. I didn't even want the container after that. Now I always wondered were they in the nuts all along? EEEK!
So connected to this post! Similar thing happened to me many years ago on our honeymoon in Hawaii! I decided it would be neat to bring home tiny little shells I found on the shoreline for my students. Without anything to put them in, I stuffed them in my shorts pocket. When I got to our hotel room, I saw myself in the mirror and my pockets were moving as the tiny creatures were coming out of the shells. Needless to say, the shorts ended up on the balcony pronto!!!
Absolutely bake on low or in a bag in the freezer for a couple of days. It's not hard and this is definitely a 1st world problem. The caps will likely come off the acorns but that's when the glue gun is handy.
Oh my...thanks for the laugh out loud moment this morning!!! Great advice my friend. I'll leave my acorns for the squirrels. Now you've inspired me to clean house and begin fall decorating though! Thank you!
Karianne, your natural humor is so great! You could write some children's books, too, in your spare seconds. They'd love them. We grown up kids certainly do.
I just seal them in a ziplock bag for a few days! I seal anything natural I bring in from outside! I learned the hard way.... wiggles and squiggles are not what I want in decore!!! LOL... Big Hugs,
Bird nests should be baked or put in a plastic bag in the freezer for several hours just as you described and for the same reason!! No wiggles, but mites from the birds! We can be grateful for the gifts that nature gives us, but we need to be cautious about the gifts!!
I had a similar experience with acorns. We made corsages for the mother's of our brownie troop with colored paper leaves, pipe cleaners and real acorns. I had them in the back of my car for a week in a plastic bag and needless to say the moms went without corsages that day and the corsages and worms went into the garbage. There is always something new to learn.
What a story! My mom had a favorite story about decorating for Scouts! She and a bunch of the moms were decorating our church hall for a boy scout blue and gold dinner. A couple of the ladies came in with their arms just filled with the most vivid and beautiful vines! They were so excited with their find! Not so much after my mom explained that they were poison oak!
I did a similar thing and that I was all that, until I too found things crawling around. No more. Lesson learned!
Love this story. If I had acorns I'd have done and thought the same thing. LOL. How terrifying. How hilarious!! You spin the best tales, KA.
Besides, the critters need them to eat! Thanks for the funny reflection. Happy fall! (soon)
Crack me up! As many have said you have to bake them! I have a lovely bowl that I put out every year! I suppose I could glue some to a pretty branch, I have so many! Speaking of paper birch... A couple of years ago I found Birch paper ribbon at the dollar tree! I wrapped our battery operated White pillar candles and they look so cute! I wonder if I have enough to wrap a vase? A little something different this year, perhaps! 😯😁♥️
YOU are funny! I laughed so hard. Thanks for the heads up Karianne.🩷
I baked mine, also, but I still had the worms after a couple of weeks.
Better to freeze than to bake - the warmth can just make some pests more active, not less. That's why I used the freezer and for two weeks minimum. Funny how many of us have had wiggle and squiggle experiences!
Okay what were the wiggles? I must know
I have 100s of real acorns that I use every fall. I also have 80 pinecones from my neighbors yard. Do you like how I know the exact number? Well, when you're obsessed with looking for both like I am you count. Especially after washing and baking them. My bestie and I are seriously obsessed with acorns. Now she does the hunting for me and I do the preserving for both of us.
Not a post I needed to read at midnight in a hotel far from home a few days after picking up acorns and putting the container (uncovered) in my craft room. I immediately contacted my husband to have a look and put container on the balcony for me. Now I need to catch some sleep but I feel like my skin is crawling with bugs! Not sure I should still be friends with you!!😆😆😆😆
Karianne, You are the best!! I knew where you were heading. I brought in a bunch of chestnuts-before they came out of the spiky covering, and they were so interesting. I put them in a bowl on the dining table. Several day later, the same thing happened! Your decorating always inspires me. Thank you!