In this Dala DIY tutorial will show you how to make brightly colored Dala mushrooms to decorate your pot plants, garden and flower beds. The mushrooms can be made in many sizes and colours. We hope you enjoy this DIY tutorial!
Decide on how many and how big the mushrooms need to be that you are going to make. In this tutorial we are making a couple of different sized mushrooms. The clay you need will depend on the quantity and size of your mushrooms.
The first part to make is the stalk of the mushroom, for this, you roll out the clay in a worm-like shape in the palm of your hand. You form the cap or top of the mushroom by placing the correct size ball of clay in the palm of your hand and with the thumb of your other hand you press this into the round and curved shape forming the cap. Once the stalk and cap are the correct size and shape smooth a very small amount of water onto the centre of the underside of the cap and onto the top of the stalk with your finger. You then join the stalk to the underside of the cap by applying slight pressure and again smoothing down the clay around the join. A small amount of water on your finger tip is ideal to smooth out any indentations or rough edges.
Depending on the size of the mushroom, insert either a toothpick or a skewer up the center of the stalk once the stalk and cap are joined. This will allow you to paint the mushroom by holding onto the toothpick or skewer after it has dried. It will also act as an anchor, allowing you to secure the mushroom in the place you have chosen to display it.
Allow your mushroom to dry for at least 24 hrs before you start to paint it. Inserting each toothpick or skewer into a Styrofoam base makes for an ideal drying platform.
We have used mainly red and white craft paint, but you can choose which ever colours you like from the wide range of Dala Craft paint colours. Once your clay is dry you can start painting your mushrooms while holding them by the tooth pick or skewer. It is now easy to turn the mushroom around to paint it all over. A base coat of white on the mushrooms allows the brighter colours to show up. For the decorative white spots on the cap of the mushroom use a dotting tool, ear bud or the back of a pencil/skewer. Dala Podge or Dala Deco Varnish gives the mushroom a shinny and protective covering and you may want to consider sealing your creations with either of these products. The photo shows our completed mushrooms, these have been sealed with Dala Podge.
Once the painted mushrooms have dried over night you can place them in your garden, pot plants or in any other place you wish to brighten up with your great creations.
