Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, like, in 24 hours. We’ve been busy around the house getting ready to host Thanksgiving dinner over here this year (yay!) but I wanted to pop in and share a super simple, quick, ultra easy project I whipped up this morning.

It seems like every time I dust the coffee table, I rearrange it while I’m at it. Since we’re already in Christmas mode, the last rendition included a stack of books with our silver and sold wise men / shepherd tic tac toe (it looks a lot classier than it sounds, haha) along with… nothing. There was a big empty space that needed to be filled. I wanted something wintery (that would be deemed as either Thanksgiving or Christmas) but nothing too colorful or bold, since it would take away from the tree that’s only three feet away. I love candles year round, but this time of year, I like to amp up the coziness by adding a few more here and there. So a candle it was!

I took a small hurricane that I picked up from Crate and Barrel a few years back and placed a small white pillar candle inside. Obviously, I wasn’t going to leave it like this. I needed something to fill the empty space. I actually ending up leaving it empty for about an hour or until something came to mind. Then, it dawned on me… I remembered we had some whole walnuts in the pantry. Score! Sure, the medium tones of the shell would be a nice contrast to the dark coffee table, right? But it’s the Christmas season (well, in 48 hours it will be). At Christmas time, everything is better with a little bit of glimmer.

Before I move on… I can’t mention walnuts without referencing the Dick Van Dyke Show episode “It May Look Like a Walnut”. It’s one of my top 5 Dick Van Dyke Show episodes. I remember when I was a kid, this episode would always scare me but it’s really so, so funny! If you haven’t seen it, you must watch it. You can watch the full episode here on Hulu.

I broke out a sponge brush (which when I took the photo already had paint on it because I forgot to take a photo before I started painting) and the Martha Stewart craft paints we had left over from another project we worked on a few weeks ago (which we’ll be dishing out on next week!). I had two shades of gold (Vintage Gold and Golden Pearl). Btw, you can find these specific craft paints at Home Depot but they have smaller versions of the same colors (though they might be a different name) over at Michaels. 

I thought the painting projects were behind us for a while, so I bit the bullet and got my nails done for the holidays. I should have known better. To protect my newly manicured nails, I put my hand in a plastic bag and held the walnut with the “bagged” hand while I painted it. When I was finished, I just turned the bag inside out. No mess!

One episode of Big Bang Theory later, all of the walnuts were shimmery gold. I ended up skipping the glitter and alternated the two shades of gold. I put them on paper plates to allow them to dry for a few hours. I think I’ve said this before, but one thing I love about metallic paint is how fast it dries! After ironing a table cloth, answering a few emails and taking Bentley for a walk, the walnuts were all dry and ready to show off.

 I really love the subtle statement it brings to the coffee table. It ties in with the gold ornaments on the tree as well as the tic tac toe over on the stack of books.

The difference in shades of gold is super subtle. Even so, I think it makes a bit of difference and helps bring out the texture differences of the walnut shells. I love how the nooks and crannies help the metallic paint catch the light given off by the Christmas tree.

While we’re at it, here’s a little peek of the Christmas tree. We’re planning on doing a post on the details in the next week or so. On that note, I’ve got to get back to my pumpkin pie baking session! We hope all of you are having fun getting geared up for Thanksgiving tomorrow!