Acorn Top Squirrel

One thing I absolutely love about autumn is the busyness of the squirrels in the wooded park across the street.

I have a habit of naming wild animals and thereby claiming them as my pets. Since moving to my present home, this practice no longer applies to squirrels. There are just too many of them! I can’t look out the window without seeing one. I can hardly pull out of the driveway without having to avoid one. Their population seems to double in the fall, and every single one of them seems to be running somewhere with a nut in his/her mouth. I’m in heaven!

It seemed only fitting that when I was thinking of a craft to make with the supply of acorn tops I recently collected from a trip to Ontario Canada’s “Cottage Country,” a silhouette of a squirrel popped to mind. And so, the “Acorn Top Squirrel” was born.

Here’s my collection of acorn tops. What a find!

Using CorelDraw, I drew up a silhouette of a squirrel that maximized the space available in my frame. The tail had to be big… it’s a squirrel’s most elegant feature! I then printed, cut, and traced it onto the support board that came with my $2 yard-sale-find frame. I left the board alone as the kraft colour had a natural woodsy feel to me. But a great alternative might have been to first wrap the board in a lovely fall-themed geometric print fabric or even a mustard yellow and white chevron print.

(You can download a resizable PNG of the squirrel silhouette here, should you wish to use it.)

I then painted out the shape with a dark brown craft paint and waited for it to dry.

Next I glued the acorn tops in place. I was glad to have had the foresight to collect a lot of small acorn tops as well as large ones, as it made it easier to fill in spaces and hug the lines.

My squirrel found a great home in a freshly painted frame and, voila… my Acorn Top Squirrel Silhouette!

Now where to put it…?