Easy Handmade Clay Mushroom Ornaments You Can DIY
Mushrooms seem to be everywhere as you can tell from a few of my other posts. Along with gnomes they are one of the hottest trends this year. I’ve always loved mushrooms and a few years ago I shared easy handmade clay mushroom ornaments you can DIY in my book Creatively Christmas. They add a touch of whimsy and magic. I thought it was the perfect time to share that tutorial here, because fungi of all shapes and sizes are just the cutest bit of holiday decor or hanging on a Christmas tree!
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To make your own clay mushroom ornaments, you need just a few supplies: Air dry clay, red, tan and white paint, glitter, a paint brush white craft glue and twine or ribbon. You can find all of the supplies here. You can also use the mushroom making technique to create polymer clay mushrooms for the perfect addition to your fairy garden or terrarium.
Start creating your mushroom by forming it with air dry clay
You mushroom making begins with molding the stems and caps out of air dry clay. The mushroom top is formed by making a ball of clay and flattening one side so the other side keeps its rounded shape and oyu end up with a slightly flat circular shape. To make the stem, roll out a long cylindrical shapes and roll one end slightly more so it tapers at one end.
on the flat part of the mushroom cap (the underside) use the end of a paint brush while the clay is still wet to make a hollow where the skinny end of the mushroom stem can sit when the clay is completely dry. The clay can take up to 24 hours to dry before painting.
Using Christmas mushrooms in holiday decorating is an old German tradition that signifies good luck.
Once the tops and bottoms are dry, you can glue them together. I find this works better than try to form the mushroom in one piece. I find white craft glue works better than hot glue and is much easier to paint over. Once the glue is dry, the mushrooms are ready to be painted. I chose to make my tops red and my bottoms a light tan color, but since they come in all kinds of different colors, feel free to be creative!
When the acrylic paint is dry, now is a great time to add you small eye hook in the top. The clay is soft enough that they screw right in. If you want additional reinforcement, add a few drops of white craft glue to the screw part before hand.
Tip: To make air dry clay mushrooms to add to other kinds of decor, omit the eye hook and use a toothpick in the base. They can be placed in dry floral foam or other dry arrangements.
To add the typical “forest mushroom” look, I added a few drops of white craft glue to the top to make dots. I found it was very easy to do using a pencil eraser dipped in paint. After the top dried, you can add a bit of glitz to them. Brush glue around the bottom of the stem with a paintbrush and then sprinkle glitter all around the bottom for a little sparkle.
After the glitter dries, shake off the excess. You can hang your mushrooms from a pretty ribbon or piece of twin by creating a loop with a knot in the top and hang on your tree. Mushrooms are also great year round decor too and you can make some to use in your spring decor as well!
If you loved these easy handmade clay mushroom ornaments you can DIY here are more Christmas ornaments ideas such as how to make these rustic modern glitter ornaments , or learn how to make hanging snowglobe ornaments.
