Shabby chic mushrooms

August 22, 2023

Shabby chic mushrooms

Adding a clay mould can transform any piece into something fabulous! Follow along and Ill show you how I gave these mushrooms a makeover.

I picked up several of these mushrooms from the Dollar Tree. They usually have them out around spring and summer and Ive even noticed some still lurking around as fall nears probably because mushrooms are a big hit in decor lately it seems.

I got some of this DAS air dry clay from Michaels and got out a few of my clay moulds.

This one with the leaves I purchased from Temu. Other than it being really small and delicate it turned out not too bad.

I dusted the mould with cornstarch using a paint brush to help the clay release after I pressed it in.

After I dusted the mould I began using little pieces of clay to press into the mould. This was because the design was so little. Bigger moulds are easier to remove any excess clay from around the edges.

After I filled it up with clay I flipped it over to release the moulds carefully.

Peel up on the corner to release the clay. You may have to help some of the delicate pieces out of the mould.

Next, using my Titebond glue I smeared the glue onto the backside of the mould. Be careful nkt to smush your design while doing this. Smear the glue in an even layer covering the entire backside. Dont ise too much glue or your mould will slide off.

Place the glued mould onto your mushroom top. Lightly tap down all the edges. You want them to lay flat against the mushroom with no gaps.

If you find that the mould is sliding down because of the inclined surface you can use painters tape to help hold it in place until it dries. This glue dries good in about 20-30 minutes.

I contined to work my way around the mushrooms with clay leaves until I thought it looked good. When placing the moulds on the very top of the mushroom be sure to press them down goodso you have no gaps. It was easier to use the smaller pieces for the top. Place aside to let completely dry.

Next I started on a rose mushroom by doing the same process as above. This mould is by Redesign and called Fragrant Roses. I ordered this one off Amazon.

These rose moulds were a little heavier since they were bigger than the leaves so I did use painters tape to help hold them in place.

My third mushrooms I used a mould again by Redesign called Floral Botanist and also purchased off Amazon. Repeat steps as mentioned above.

After the clay dried overnight I picked my paint colors. I probably would have prefered to paint the top before I added the moulds because it was hard to get the paint down in between a few of the moulds. I used white chalk paint for the roses.

I used a tan color (Waverly's Hazelnut) for the leaf one.

Then Waverly's Celery color for the floral.

Once they were dry I used clear was by waverly and completely covered the top where I had lainted making sure to get down into the crevaces of the moulds. Its easier to use a chip brush or in my case I used a stencil brush that worked just as well.

Let the wax cure and dry over night. Whike that was drying I used Apple Barrells Khaki volor acrylic paint to repaint the bottoms. Only because they looked dirty from the store and has some glazed from the original finished splattered onto a few of them. I added clear wax to this after as well.

After all the wax dried and cured I went in my antique wax by waverly and added it to the floral mushrooms covering it completely and blending it down into the moulds.

Using a paper towel dab to remove a majority of the excess wax.

For a cleaner look I went back in with a baby wipe and wiped more of the wax leaving most of it in the crevaces of the moulds.

I pressed to hard removing some of the wax that I had to go back in and touch up a few spots with the paint.

I used a champagne colored wax on the rose mushroom. I bought this at Hobby Lobby near the paint section. This is a solid wax not a liquid. I just smeared some onto my finger and then rubbed it over the raised areas of the mould to outline them.