Doodled Chestnut Craft: How to Make DIY Fall Decor for Less

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I have a candle problem.

Back in college, I was really big on twinkle lights. I used them in every room I lived in, including my room back at my parents’ house. But once I graduated and moved into my first “adult” (heavy on the air quotes) apartment, three things happened:

• I decided that decorating the living room with twinkle lights felt a little too college to me,
• I read the very popular Hygge book, which included a very convincing section on the coziness of candles, and
• I no longer had to abide by dorm fire code rules.

So I guess you could say that my candle obsession grew from a spark to a four-alarm fire. We now almost always have six to ten candles burning every evening. It’s my new twinkle lights.

But other than an abundance of candles and succulents (and one sculpture of a cat), we don’t have a ton of decor in our living room. In the summer, that makes the house feel light and airy, but once the dreary fall and winter weather sets in, I start itching for more things to make our house feel like a home, especially in terms of seasonal decor. Since we don’t have a ton of storage space and I don’t want pumpkins and ghosts clogging up our hallway in April, I’m trying to keep it all fairly inexpensive, DIY, and earth-friendly so it’s easily recyclable once the seasons change.

Which brings us to today’s chestnut craft, which I did in about 15 minutes this morning.

This tutorial is so easy that it’s not even a tutorial. Go outside and find some chestnuts (or acorns of those are easier to find in your area). Take a gold gel pen (I used this one) and doodle on them. You can make up any designs you like, or borrow some inspiration from mine.

SO. EASY. And they look good with an abundance of candles!

In terms of other nature-inspired DIY fall decor, I strung a series of handmade ornaments, paper leaves, and spices onto a branch for fall, and it turned out pretty nicely.

I also made a centerpiece for our table yesterday out of some silk flowers, floral foam, and an old pot we had.

If you’d like to try something similar and make your own DIY fall decor or chestnut craft, here are a few basic tips.

Draw resources from what’s available to you

If you live in an area with a lot of chestnuts, acorns, or colorful leaves, gather some and use those for the basis of your crafts. I’ve seen a lot of crafts made out of colorful fall leaves on Pinterest, but because in our area the leaves don’t turn quite so richly as in Boston (more on that here), I made things out of what we did have.

Use the tools you have at home

Gel pens, ribbon, washi tape, you name it. If you craft a lot, try to draw on the resources you already have, rather than going out and buying more. For example, I inherited a large stack of beautiful paper from my grandmother and I’ve been using that to make a lot of paper crafts, rather than diving into knitting right now (which I’m dying to do, now and every fall). The less you buy, the more you’ll save.

Find inspiration online

I’m personally a Pinterest addict, and whenever I have craft materials and only a vague idea of what to do with them, I take a look there for some inspiration. Take the materials you have and type them in as keywords for a Pinterest search. You’ll often find something really cute!

Have you made any fun fall DIY decor this year, or tried a chestnut craft of your own? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to see pictures!