handmade holiday | wood mushroom ornaments

Here we go - the first project for Handmade Holiday 2012: Wood Mushroom Ornaments. I should confess that I do not have my Christmas tree up yet, and considering that I'll be vending at art markets for the first three weekends in December, I'm not sure exactly when we will have a chance to chop down, set up, and decorate a tree this year, but that hasn't stopped me from making ornaments. In fact, I made these mushrooms back in...September...

My plan for this year was to create an entirely new set of ornaments for a new tree. (Did I mention that I'm insane?) Ever since I took down last year's tree, I've had visions of a modern Scandinavian-inspired Christmas for 2012: lots of birch and white, with accents of red and pale blue. Teeny tiny house ornaments. Modern patterns. Natural wood. Kraft paper. Stripes and triangles. Woodland critters. Snowflakes...

However! Christmas is less than a month away and it's the busy season for my shop, so I don't think I'll have time to create an entire new set of ornaments this year. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be making lots of handmade things for Christmas, but I think I'll add them to my collection from last year instead of starting from scratch.

Anyway, at the end of the summer, I had some free time to get creative. With the vision of a Scandinavian/Woodland-themed tree dancing in my head along with wanting to create more mushroom ornaments that didn't involve sewing, I made these little wood mushrooms:




Ever notice that drawer pulls look exactly like mushrooms? Yup, that's what these are - wood knobs. Paint 'em, seal 'em, add a screw-eye and some hemp twine and you're done. I happened to have white paint in a squeeze bottle which made it easier to paint the spots, but a small brush would work, too. Easy.

Also, I'm sure doggie photobombs will be a common appearance in my Handmade Holiday photos:

"These for eatin', Ma?"