Chestnut trees are evil mess makers, depositing sticky red things, white flowers, chestnuts and leaves, in a cycle that never seems to end. The only positive thing has been transforming the chestnuts into these really cool Halloween eyeballs, inspired by a fabulous image from Simon Clarke.
Materials
- chestnuts
- craft knife
- cutting board
- white acrylic paint
- paint brush
- googly eyes
- white glue
Instructions
1. Gather some chestnuts, and make sure to watch out for those nasty spikes. Place one on a cutting board, and using a craft knife, make a shallow cut through the outer shell, halfway along the circumference of the chestnut. Pry it open and remove the chestnut fruit. Be sure not to cut too deep because you don’t want to damage the fruit. Also, make sure not to cut all the way around, so the outer shell can remain as one piece. It may take a few tries before you get it right, so make sure to gather enough of them.
2. Remove the chestnut fruit from inside. Sometimes you’ll find more than one, so you can discard any extras, or throw them back at the squirrels, who show little concern when dropping them on our heads. Paint them with white acrylic paint, and allow to dry.
3. Place the painted chestnut fruit back inside the shell. Once it’s well positioned, attach a googly eye with some glue. The fruit and shell will shrivel up a bit as they dry, but it will still look wonderfully spooky.
ArtClubBlog 
I’m a sucker for anything with googly eyes! These are fun!
Me too! I’ve heard of people “eye bombing” where they stick googly eyes in public places, on ads, etc. Would definitely put a smile on my face 🙂
What fun! Simon’s image startled me! The pods really do look like eye sockets.
These messy trees are nothing but a fun memory from my childhood. There was a row of them in front of our elementary school. My sisters and I gathered boxes of chestnuts, took turns laying on the living room floor and outlined our bodies with them!
What wonderful memories, and how nice to hear it’s actually possible to enjoy those trees! I’m sure I’d feel differently about them if there wasn’t one right by my deck.
Very funny! Great project.
Thank you 🙂
Creepy cool.
This is a creepy but cute idea! pinning
Thank you! Creepy is always good this time of year 😉
Wow! So cool and creepy. I shared your amazing Halloween project via Scrapality FB page, Twitter feed and Pinterest board. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for linking up!
Thanks so much Andrea!
Oh my gosh, these are too funny! scary, creepy, great for Halloween! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Creepy is the goal, this time of year!
lovin these scary chestnut eyes, perfect for halloween #Serenitysaturday
Thanks Natasha 🙂 Finally, something I can do with chestnuts!
OH, those are scary and fun!! I love it! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
Thank you 🙂
super cool
Why thank you 🙂
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