DIY Wooden Mushroom Ornaments: a tutorial

Well, last night was a crafting success. I instructed 20+ ladies on making these, and not a single one thought they were difficult! Everyones was completely different and they all wanted to make more. So here is a quick photo-guided tutorial in case you want to make some of these babies on your own. I warn you though, they're highly addicting...

First, some supplies you'll need are pictured below. Twine, wood glue, paint, brushes and of course the wood pieces. I've shot a close-up of the packaging of the two wood crafting shapes I've used so you'll know exactly what to look for. I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby.

The actual first step that I forgot to document is drilling a small hole in the top of the split ball in order to screw in the eyelet. The eyelets can also be purchased from Hobby Lobby for $1.99. Now start to paint your top and bottom. An easy way to hold the little guys while painting is by the eyelet for the top of the mushroom and by placing the bottom of the mushroom on the wood end of a paintbrush pictured below. 

Once you've finished painting your wood pieces, you will glue them together. Use a small amount of wood glue and smooth out with your finger. Don't use too much or it will get messy when you press the pieces together. Attach the bottom to the flat center of the top like this:

Now you can start to paint your dots/circles. One girl last night even painted stripes, which was adorable. You can really be creative at this part if you want, or like me just stick with small and medium size spots.

There is one additional step that is completely optional. I coated just the spotted tops in a layer of mod podge. It gave them a bit of a sealed look and feel. A little less matte if you will.

And there you have it. For ornaments, cut and attach a little bit of twine to the eyelet and you're done. If you want to use them for packaging, just attach them to whatever ribbon or twine you're wrapping your box with. You can also skip attaching an eyelet if you want to keep them for figurines or standing. They would make great pieces for a homemade tic tac toe game. So if you're anything like me, you'll go make about a million of these to use as you please. Enjoy!