Decorating with horse chestnuts

Paint your own conkers

It's the time of year when leaves start to turn yellow, plums take on a bluish hue, and pumpkins look resplendent in variations of orange and yellow. Autumn has arrived, welcoming us with its array of stunning colours. Now's also the time to make seasonal decorations for your home – take these painted conkers, for example! The opaque ink in the gloss paint markers is perfect for creating an attractive seasonal display of nuts, conkers and even pumpkins and other gourds. From the range of nib sizes available, we chose the super-fine tip to paint the delicate patterns on our conkers. Light colours and metallic shades show up particularly well on these nut-like seeds, but there are plenty of other vibrant colours in the range.

Category: Autumn
Products: Paint markers
Materials: Natural materials
Difficulty: Easy peasy
Downloads: Images (ZIP)

Step-by-step

Step 1

Thanks to their very fine nib, edding 780 gloss paint markers are ideal for painting delicate patterns on conkers. We used the metallic colours gold and copper, along with white.

Step 2

Before you start decorating, you need to activate the gloss paint marker as follows: shake the marker vigorously with the cap on, then remove the cap and pump the marker a few times on a piece of absorbent paper until ink appears in the nib. Now you’re ready to get started. Let your imagination run wild and decorate however you like. You can add dots, loops or other delicate graphic patterns – anything goes! After use, always replace the cap securely and store the marker horizontally.

Step 3

Metallic shades and white show up really beautifully on the dark surface of a conker. The ink is quick-drying, enabling you to decorate all the way round without smudging anything.