This is a nice handmade decoration out of plaster. The technique is rather simple and it depends on you to give it that fairytale/natural aspect with a paintbrush. In order to make this DIY mushroom house, you will need:

• a bag of gypsum;
• a cup of water;
• an empty bottle of milk;
• a cutter;
• deep bowl;
• a flower pot stand;
• polyethylene plastic bags;
• paint brush;
• acrylic paints;

First, cut from the top of the bottle a length of 13 cm. Dissolve the gypsum in water to the consistency of sour cream. Quickly put a cone like small cardboard covered with a plastic bag in the middle of the bottle with gypsum. Push in (but not too much, you don’t want to reach the neck of the bottle with your cone) to create some room. After 5 to 7 minutes, pull out the bag. Then, use the cutter to slowly remove the bottle from around your form. That completes the leg of your mushroom; it is hollow on the inside so it’s not that heavy.

Second, in order to make the top, the `hat`, you will use a 13 cm diameter not that deep bowl with nice lined texture, and cover it with a plastic bag. Pour gypsum in the bowl and then place the leg of the mushroom (also covered in a plastic bag) in the middle of the bowl. After approximately 7 minutes the top is ready.

Third, the base of our project will be made using the same process, but this time with a 15 cm diameter flower pot instead of the bowl. You then put the leg in the pot, not necessarily in the middle, to give that natural feel. Before the plaster is completely hardened, carve some rocks or pebbles with a toothpick or with the cutter if the gypsum is a bit dry. Use a brush to remove any residues.

Finally, make a door on the leg in a similar manner you did the rocky pathway, as well as a window (with the use of a 2.8 cm circular shape of paper) or two. Now take the brush, some acrylic paints and decorate away. Feel free to add some little pieces of flower or grass with the help of some glue to make it even more natural looking. Your mushroom decoration is now completed!

Source: sdelaisam.forblabla.com

Here is an innovative idea for a gift. We assure you that, in the field of presents, it will be the first one of the kind. You can do it yourself by following some simple steps presented in detail below. You’ll see how a little canning jar can easily become a candle holder. ‘Ingredients’: an empty canning jar with a lid, various colors of pasta polymer clay, wax candles, a wick, cookie cutters, knife, rolling pin and… a little bit of patience.
The first step is to cover the jar with the polymer clay. Roll out the pasta and cover the outside of the jar with it, from the bottom to the top. In order to obtain a smooth surface, be sure to uniformly cover the jar with the polymer. Don’t you ever forget to wash your hands after working with polymer clay – it can be toxic!!

With a mold for cookies (in the absence of this, we can use a knife) cut out two or three openings for windows and one for the door. Using another color of pasta, you will do the jambs. With the brown paste, we model the jambs, the door and the frames for windows. On the door, apply a ball that will be the handle, and plow the surface of the door so as to obtain a wood effect. With the help of a cookie mold, we cut out a heart shape for the door, in order to decorate our little house. Process the green dough so to create a small edge of grass and decorate the base of the jar by applying it. Use dark green and apply it all around the posts of the jar. By using small pieces of dough and by the aid of a knife, we form twigs and leaves. You can also add a few light green leaves to get a more realistic effect. Now you can start making some flowers out of polymer, by using as many colors as you can, to make your house look cute. The lid of the jar will be the roof of the house. Cover the lid with some red colored pasta and apply white dots on it – this way, your house will look like a mushroom in the end. Finally, you will have to harden the pasta -for this, put both the jar and the lid in a preheated oven at 130 Celsius degrees for about 30 minutes. (It is important to observe the instructions of the manufacturer, because if the temperature in the oven is too high, the pasta releases toxic vapors.) Let everything cool down, then (if you want) you can apply a top coat of varnish. When the jar has cooled down, pour the melted wax there and place the wick in the center. Once the wax has cooled off, your candle will be ready. You can just tie a nice ribbon around it and then your DIY gift will be ready.

Photo credit: casaetrend.it