How to sculpt mice using cotton batting and dryer lint...

I've added the whiskers here to the mice.

       Learn to handcraft a few little mice for a Christmas tree or for play in a mouse house if you prefer. Children love them no matter what color they are or from what materials you choose to make them with. Every mouse has it's own character and you will enjoy dressing them for the holidays as well.

• Read mouse stories and craft more for them here
• Follow the church mouse companion here. 

Supply List:

• chenille stems
• cotton balls
• dryer lint
• white school glue
• acrylic paint: black and white
• Sculpey oven-bake clay
• thread for whiskers

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Shred white cotton balls into fluff and layer this with white glue onto the chenille stems, winding the cotton around the stems. Once the cotton batting and glue is evenly distributed, you can roll the wire between the palms of your hands to adhere it to the chenille better. This process will also 'even out' the application.
2. Now cut and bend the cotton coated wires into basic mouse armature. See and copy the photos below.
3. Don't forget to twist the mice tails to the armature from behind. 
4. Now layer cotton batting and white glue on top of the armature in order to 'flesh out' the delicate little mouse bodies.
5. Glue on large round ears and eyeballs made from Sculpey oven-bake clay.
6. Once you have fleshed out the bodies to the most believable shapes, dab on white glue and dryer lint to color the white fur further.
7. After the mice have dried completely next to a heating duct, ideally, paint the eyes and thread a needle with white or transparent thread to weave in and out of the mice cheeks. Clip the whiskers to a shorter length at the end.

More Makers of Mice Online:

• How to make mice tutorial by Rosanna makes here - these are painted afterwards
• Needle felted sleeping mice by Sarafina Fiber Art
• Learn to make traditional felt mice by Crumble Cottage here
• Read and see how I make sock mice at one of my other blogs here

Left, standing mouse, wire armature. Center, sitting mice, wire armature. Right, 'fleshed-out' mice
 before adding painted eyes and dryer lint for colorful fur.

Above you can see the grey mouse from different angles.

Above is my spotted mouse from different angles.

Detailed photos of seated mice posed together.

See the dryer lint in a bag. I collected multiple greys, black and browns over time.

How to recycle a jar lid into a Christmas ornament...

The finished jar lid ornament.

       Jar lids are certainly the kinds of recycled supplies that just about anybody can afford to use to decorate a Christmas tree with. The key is to find or have supplies that will make them stand out, give them a bit of old-world charm.
       If children are choosing to make crafts like these, adults should watch them diligently while they handle items like hot glue guns. It is best that they not use glue guns altogether. White school glue will work just as well but they must have some patience to let each application of white glue dry as they go.

Supply List:

• clean, unused jar lid
• scrap for gluing to the inside
• white school glue
• twine
• hot glue and hot glue gun
• one cotton ball
• tiny toadstools (my sample has cotton batting ones)
• faux fir tree branch
• transparent glitter
• masking tape
  
• Mod Podge
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Clean the lid, removing every trace of food and any stickers that may be stuck to the outside of the surface.
2. Place the jar's lid on top of a picture and trace around it with a pencil.
3. Cut out the circle making it just slightly smaller so it will fit snugly inside the jar's lid.
4. Apply an even coat of white glue to the inside of the lid and press the cut card on top of this, pressing firmly until the picture adheres completely.
5. Mod Podge the card and set it aside to dry.
6. Cover the outer ring with masking tape prior to using the hot glue gun. Do not touch the surfaces of the metal tip directly to the metal lid, for this will heat up and could burn you seriously. The masking tape will keep the metal cooler, just long enough for the quick application. 
   
7. Take your glue gun and twine and carefully apply the string to the surface of the outer ring. Cover this completely with the twine and also glue on a hanger for the tree made from the same material.
8. Repeat steps: 2 through 5 for the backside of the lid.
9. I cut a tiny piece of faux fir tree branch for the boy to hold in his arms and attached it with hot glue.
10. Also attach the cotton for snow to the bottom half of the lid's rim using white school glue and let this dry completely. I did this with white glue because I wanted the metal surface on the interior of the lid to show.
11. Then I squeezed and puddled a generous amount of glue to the crevices of the interior lid to hold the tiny white and red cotton toadstools. Let this glue harden and dry over night for a strong hold.
12. Paste on a dusting of transparent glitter and hang the ornament.
    

Capturing the veiled lady in cotton...

Cotton batting veiled lady mushrooms.

       Even though the veiled lady mushroom is not common to Missouri, I thought it an unusual addition to my woodland Christmas ornament collection. It grows in Asian climates primarily; read more about it at Wikipedia.

Spray painting an onion sack.

Supply List:

• paper mache pulp
• white school glue
• newsprint
• onion bag
• white spray paint
• grey drier lint
• white cotton balls 
• newspapers

Step-by-Step Directions:

1.  Clip off the ends of an onion sack, stretch it out on top of newspapers or cardboard and spray paint it white to mimic the indusium "skirt" of the veiled lady mushroom.
2. Chop up a clean paper egg carton. Trim and keep the bell cap shapes for the tops of your mushrooms.
3. Insert a small wire up through the tops of the caps for hangers. Tape these firmly into place.
4. Crush the newsprint into stalks and glue these to the inside of the bell cap shapes. 
5. Add a small amount of water to paper mache pulp to spread on top of the caps and also the underside of where the stalks and caps meet. Let these dry completely before continuing the project.
6. Glue the onion sack along the outer edge of the cap. Layer more paper mache on top of the netting that you do not wish to be seen. Let the dry.
7. Unravel the white cotton balls. 
8. Alternate the white glue and cotton batting in fine layers over the stalks and underneath the bell caps. 
9. Layer the glue and dryer lint on top of the cap until you are pleased with the patterning.
10. Apply the white glue over the entire surface of the veiled lady, excluding the indusium, until you are satisfied with the mushroom.

From egg carton to recycled mushroom forms.

Slow motion of the veiled lady growing

 with strange alien music.

Grandpa's Wooden Morels

The finished painted morels rest on a mossy bed
just outside my kitchen door.

        Grandpa took a trip to Kentucky this last weekend. He visited the Shaker Village, The Kentucky Folk Art Center , Noah's ark, The Creation Museum, and quaint restaurants etc... He brought back these three hand-carved, wooden mushrooms for me to paint. He wanted them to be painted as morels and to display them under a Christmas tree, of course! 

Supply List:

• tiny soft paint brush
• acrylic paints: burnt umber, a redish tan, and creamy white
• wood varnish 
• eye hooks (if you plan to hang them on a tree) 
• a soft sponge or soft rag

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1.  Make sure your mushroom blanks are clean, free of dust and dirt.
2. Select the burnt umber acrylic to paint the deeper pits and ridges of the morel cap. Load the small brush with paint at the tip only and randomly place the ridges over the entire surface of the cap only. Let the caps dry.
3. Layer random washes of a reddish tan water color over the surface. Let dry
4. Paint the bottoms of the stems burnt umber. 
5. Paint the underside of the caps burnt umber.
6. Water down the creamy white acrylic and brush this over the surface of the wooden morels. Rub some of the paint off quickly with a soft sponge or soft rag. Let the morels dry.
7. Brush the surface with a thin coat of wood varnish and let the wooden fungi dry overnight.
8. Screw in the eye hooks to hang these natural looking ornaments on the tree or leave them without hooks and put them in a woodland display underneath your Christmas tree.

Purchase Wooden Mushrooms:

• Wooden blank mushrooms/toadstools at LottyLollipop for painting.
• DIY Super Mario Wooden Mushrooms
• Wooden Mushrooms from Wee Folk Art
• Mini Wood Mushrooms 8 Pack: rustic edges

Left, the unfinished balsa wood mushroom blanks. Right, the first coat of paint.

Owlets in a sycamore tree ornament...

The completed baby owls stare out from their cozy candy
container. These are adorable on a woodland inspired
Christmas tree or a cotton batting themed Christmas tree.

        This woodland inspired ornament craft includes both natural materials and traditional cotton batting applications. It is made from a hollow cardboard tube so that Santa's elves may insert small toys or candy inside of it on Christmas morning.
       In order to complete this ornament with success, I am presuming that visitors here have been working with cotton batting for a while. If you are new to my blog and have never tried crafting with these materials I will include links to simpler cotton batting projects where I describe the techniques in greater detail within the text of the step-by-step directions.

Supply List:

• cardboard tube 
• white school glue
• masking tape
• acrylic paints: yellow, white and black
• tiny paint brush
• cotton balls
• dryer lint
• wire for hanging
• extra cardboard
• one walnut, cut in half
• black thread
• scissors

Step-by-Step Directions:

This tube was not masked properly, but I have
included the picture for you to see how the
walnuts look when glued in place.

1. Select a cardboard tube and cut it to the size you prefer. Mask all of it's surfaces with tape. 
2. Use the sharp end of your scissors to puncture two holes on opposite sides of each other at the top of your cardboard tube in order to thread a wire for hanging.
3. I covered a wire with cotton before looping it through these two holes at the top. (wrapping wire with cotton)
4. Use the sharp end of your scissors to poke two holes into the side of the tube where you will glue the walnut shells into place. These will become your baby owl's heads. Do not make the holes too big! When gluing in the walnut halves, you want a little resistance from the cardboard tube. These shells should be nestled into the tube with both glue and the firm application of dryer lint surrounding them. Saturate the dryer lint into place under the edges of the nut shells with glue and then let the tube dry over night. You need to make sure that your walnuts are set firmly into the tube before continuing with your process. The tube may take on a warped shape after drying but this will lend a natural appearance to the tree trunk idea.
5. Cut from extra cardboard a circular shape to fit and seal off the bottom of the tube tree trunk. You can do this by setting the tube on top of a piece of cardboard and drawing around it's circumference with a pencil or pen. Cut the shape out and tape it firmly to the bottom of your tree trunk.
6. Now apply with white glue and your finger tip, the dryer lint to the opening of the trunk.
7. Unravel your cotton balls and glue down a first layer of faux, white bark to the remaining sections of the tree trunk. 
8. Between layers glue in some wrapped areas of black thread and then glue and layer on top of this thread random layers of white cotton. (practice imitating bark for a yule log) This will application is intended to imitate the surface of a sycamore tree. (film of owls nesting in a tree trunk)
9. Roll cotton between your finger tips to make the eyes and beaks of your owls. Glue these in place and let the faces dry over night. (Practice rolling cotton between your finger tips while crafting peas in the pod.)
10. Paint the features of the owl eyes and beaks. I used a bit of white paint to complete a few feathery strokes in the crevice of the walnut shells. 

Close up pictures of my owlets in a tree trunk ornament.

A Fine Feathered Bird Ornament

       This feathered, pudgy bird would sit perfectly on a pine bough or hang easily from the most delicate branches of a fir tree, for it is as light as a feather! I chose to use undyed feathers in a variety of browns for my project because I have a woodland themed ornament collection. However, this little bird would look just as sweet with brightly colored feathers in blues, reds, or yellows sitting inside of a white Christmas tree or hanging from a fragile twig tree if you prefer.

Supply List:

• hot glue and hot glue gun
• paper mache pulp or a bit of air dry paper clay
• one styrofoam ball
• a bag of feathers (your choice in color and texture)
• acrylic paints ( I used black, white, grey and yellow)
• an ordinary pencil
• white tacky glue as well 
• scrap tissue paper
• masking tape
• wire for hanging

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1.  Crumple the tissue and form a second "half" ball on top of the styrofoam ball. Tape this down with masking tape, covering all of the tissue paper with the masking tape.
2. With either paper mache pulp (water added according to directions on the wrapper) or with air dry paper clay, shape the eyeballs, eyelids and beak and attach to the masked head with hot glue. 
3. Take your sharpened pencil and push into the lower styrofoam ball approximately half an inch and remove it from the tail area of the bird. 
4. Now fill this cavity with white glue, plus the feathers that you have selected for the tail of your bird. Prop this tailside up against a couple of books on a table and let it dry for a while to keep the glue from running.
5. Now layer and glue feathers to the lower half of the bird's body.
6. Paint the eyes and beak of the bird using acrylic paints and let the painted clay or mache parts dry. If you use paper mache for these features, you will need to wait for them to dry solid before painting them.
7. Glue the head feathers of the bird on last, smoothing them down a bit with white glue away from the eyes and beak.
8. Push a wire into the head of your bird along with a bit of white glue, to create a loop for hanging it from the tree. 

More links to bird crafts:

• Red cardinal craft for kids
• Yarn bird craft for kids 
• Yarn wrapped blue jay craft 

Cotton Batting Baskets

       Originally I intended to turn these little wire frame baskets into paper mache´ornaments. But because I decided to decorate my living Christmas tree with cotton batting ornaments this year, I chose to wrap them with cotton. 

       Our family tree this year is a white pine and as some of you may know, these branches can hold little weight and the foliage is generally quite sparse. The white pine needles are long, fine and soft. For all of these reasons, many people avoid cutting white pines and opt for a sturdy blue spruce instead.
        The positive aspect of selecting a white pine is, however, what is looks like when properly trimmed. These trees are often used to display very light weight, antique glass ornaments because it is much easier to view large collections through fewer branches from every angle and although I do not have an expensive glass collection, I do have many cotton batting reproductions that I like to show off with similar flair.

These wire shaped baskets were made with chenille stems intertwined 
together across the backside of a small bowl. The examples are not yet 
wrapped with cotton batting because I thought that I would craft them
into paper mache´ baskets.  If you wish to make your own using cotton,
 I recommend that you wrap them first with batting before shaping the
basket on the backside of a small bowl. 

Supply List:

• ornamental picks with berries and strong wire stems
• cotton balls
• white glue
• masking tape
• chenille stems
• quail eggs (hollow)
• a small bowl to use as a form

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Twist masking tape around the chenille stems until the furry parts have all been covered and as you twist the tape, pull it slightly to help stiffen the wires a bit.
2. At this point I recommend that you coat the masked wire with white glue and begin to wrap the wires with white cotton. This is a vert messy prospect but you will get the hang of it in time.
3. You can also try rolling the wire between the palms of your hands in order to twist the cotton in a more uniform coating about the wire. It doesn't matter if your surfaces are imperfect at this point. 
4. Take the longest cotton wrapped stem and twist it around the outer rim of a very small bowl. Tape the edges together. You should let these overlap a bit. When you are finished with this step, you should have a wire circle the same circumference as the lip of your bowl. 
5. Leave this around the outer lip of the bowl. Now you will need to begin to weave additional wires around this wire "hoop" and across the back of the bowl. Cross these wires back and forth and tape them together with strips of masking tape wherever they come in contact with each other. See photo above. When you are finished, you should have some lovely, abstract wire baskets to fill.
6. I decided to twist some decorative, artificial raspberries, leaves and stems around my baskets and to also give each one a handle as well. I took apart a few inexpensive picks to accomplish this. 
7. When the baskets looked the way I wanted them to, I then lined each one with some soft fluffy cotton padding and a bit of glue. At this point you could line your wire baskets with tinsel instead to craft an alternative look. 
8. I stuffed the inside of my cotton batting baskets with hollowed out quail's eggs. These baskets are so light weight that they can be hung from the branches of a white pine quite successfully!

Far left, the wire frames taken off the bowls are neatly shaped and ready to paint, mache´ or wrap with cotton balls. (unraveled cotton balls) Center, close up, side view of one basket. Right, I filled my small, light weight baskets with hollow quail's eggs and more soft cotton before hanging it on my Christmas tree.

How To Make a Pine Cone Christmas Tree Ornament

Two versions of the same Christmas pine cone craft. The appearance of this particular ornament may be altered by switching out the materials that you use. School children in American often make this craft using pom poms. However, adults can use the same method to craft a very lovely woodland version of the ornament.

Woodland Pine Cone Christmas Tree Version

Above are detailed photos of the woodland pine cone Christmas tree.
 In this version, I used metallic beads to decorate my miniature tree instead
of the traditional pom poms.

 Supply List:

• pine cones
• a tiny acorn cap
• metallic beads for the ornaments
• hot glue gun 
• white tacky glue
• white school glue
• white cotton batting balls
• twine for hanging the ornament
• glitter (optional)
• pliers and scissors

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Glue a fluffy white cotton ball to the top of your pine cone and then turn it upside down so that the pine cone resembles a fir tree.
2. Add a bit more of the white school glue to the snowy looking surface and spread this out with your finger tips. Let dry. You may decide to add glitter to the cotton for a extra bit of glamor. 
3. Unravel a couple of white cotton balls and take these apart to form small amounts of fluff for the tips of your pine cone tree. 
4. Add just a small amount of white glue to each scale and glue white cotton into place.
5. Now use a hot glue gun to squirt a bit of the hot glue before gently pushing each metallic bead inside the cone. Work with no more than two squirts of glue and two beads at a time; hot glue dries quickly and will harden before you have had time to position the beads into place.
6. Assemble the pine cone angel by taking apart an additional pine cone with pliers. You may need to cut and trim off the inside edge of each scale before gluing these together again.
7. I used tacky glue to arrange the tiny scales around the tip of my index finger and then glued a piece of cotton batting to the top and inside portion of the skirt to hold everything in place. I then glued an additional teir (or ruffle)  to the angel's skirt. (pictured below)
8. Roll a small amount of white cotton batting into the shape of a tiny head and glue this to the top of the cone shaped angel body. 
9. Glue on a halo made from an acorn cap.
10. Glue a metallic wire to the inside of the pine cone for hanging.

Here you can see me assemble the skirt of the angel tree topper from pine cone scales and a bit of cotton batting. The head is also made from cotton batting. The halo of my angel is made from an acorn cap.

I have glued two pine cone scales together with tacky glue and a wad of cotton batting. After these wings dry, you can then attach them with glue to the back shoulder blades of your angel. You will need to hold them in position until the glue hardens a bit.

Pine Cone Christmas Tree Version with Red Pom Poms
 

Above, I have included detailed photographs of the red pom pom variation of
this pine cone Christmas tree ornament. This version is also topped off with a
tiny turned wooden Santa figure.

  Supply List:

• pine cones
• hot glue gun
• wooden spool
• paints and/or decorative paper 
• twine for hanging the ornament
• A tiny ornament or star for the "tree topper"

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. First you will need to decorate your wooden spool. I painted the edges of the one pictured above and then cut a piece of polka dot paper and glued this to the inside of the spool. This step speeds up the process of decorating the ornament.
2. Next, hot glue a pine cone with the top of the spool. The top of the pine cone should be the end that you glue to the spool base so that the pine cone will suggest the triangular shape of a Christmas pine tree.
3. Hot glue your pom poms to the tips of the pine cone scales. If you've turned the pine cone upside down and glued it to the spool correctly, there should be a natural "lip" for the pom pom to nestle inside. This is where you will squirt a bit of the hot glue before gently pushing each pom pom inside the cone. Work with no more than two squirts of glue and two pom poms at a time; hot glue dries quickly and will harden before you have had time to position the pom poms.
4. Now hot glue a tiny "tree topper" to the tip of your pine cone tree if you wish.

More Pine Cone Tree Ornaments:

• Pinecone Christmas Tree Ornaments for kids
• DIY pine cone Christmas trees from the dollar store

Craft a Cotton Batting, Birch Yule Log Ornament

The front and back views of my Birch Yule Log Christmas ornament.

Birch trees click to read more about this species.

Supply List:

• two toilet paper rolls
• scissors
• white school glue
• grey dryer lint
• white cotton balls
• black thread
• holly and berry trims
• tiny mushroom bird
• masking tape
• cotton covered wire

Step-by-Step Directions:

1.  Cut and shape the two toilet paper rolls or any paper tubes to resemble a cut log. I choose to make this birch log shape a little narrower than the original circumference of an average toilet paper roll. I cut my two rolls length wise and curled them tighter before masking them with tape. 
2. I cut down the size of one of the rolls and added a bit of glue to it's edge, then used masking tape to firmly attach the appendage to one end of my log.
3. Mask the entire form with tape before gluing on the dryer lint and cotton batting.
4. Unravel your cotton balls several at a time so that you can work quickly.
5. Apply white glue to sections of the log's surface as you layer the lint and cotton onto the cardboard tubes. 
6. Give your Yule log time to dry between applications. I also layered dryer lint on the end interior surfaces of my log. I left parts of the log open however, in order to insert a letter or small money gift into the ornament later.
7. Once the log looks the way you wish it to, wrap black thread around it randomly to enhance the total realistic look of Birch bark. 
8. Use the tip of your scissors to poke a hole in either end of your finished log and insert a cotton covered wire to shape a handle for the ornament. 
9. I also wrapped a few vintage wired holly leaves/berries around this handle.
10. Glue on a little prefabricated mushroom bird to the top of your Yule log ornament too.
11. Now add a final thin coat of white glue to the finished piece and you are finished.

A few odd angles of the Yule log.

More About Yule Logs:

• The Yule Log in Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria
• Yule Log Gift Packaging and favor boxes from Martha Stewart
• How to Make Yule Log Candles
• Traditional yule log candle holder using Birch
• Craft a Yule Log Cake Candy Container

Sculpt a Cotton Batting Deer

      To hand sculpt a cotton batting animal, such as this handsome little buck below, may seem a bit too ambitious at first. However, if you can dig a few plastic figures out of your child's toy box, to look at as you work, you may surprise yourself with the finished result! 

      Hold the small plastic animal in the palm of your hand and explore it's surface with your fingers; study it's shape carefully. By doing this, you are giving important tactile information to your brain. If you have never sculpted anything before, you must ask your eyes, hands, and mind to think about how shapes feel and look in three dimensional space over and over again. 

     Sculpting with any medium, whether it be clay, paper pulp, fabric or cotton is a tactile process. You can make many simple things but you must train yourself to be a keen observer with your hands as well as with your eyes!

     I've also included video links below to help guide you through the beginning processes of sculpting with both clay and paper. In sculpting, beginning concepts are the same no matter what medium you chose to manipulate.

Close up photo of my deer's face.

Supply List 

• cotton balls
• white school glue
• chenille stems
• newsprint 
• tacky white glue
• small soft paint brush (for painting)
• acrylic paints: browns, black, white
• bit of white fur or soft milk weed floss
• wire for hanging

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Shape a small piece of newsprint into the torso and extended head of the deer. Masking it with tape as you compress the paper into an approximate shape. 
2. Bend chenille stems into antler and leg shapes. Use tacky glue and masking tape to attach these parts to your crushed newsprint torso and head. 
3. Let the glue dry.
4. At this point you need to shape a small wire loop and attach it with glue or tape to the backside of your deer. The majority of this wire will be covered from view by tape, glue and cotton. However, you need to leave a small piece of this wire exposed so that deer may be properly hung from the tree.
5. Now wrap masking tape around the entire body.
6. Unravel several cotton balls at a time and cover the surface of your deer with white glue and cotton batting layers several times. Always end a step in this process with a final coat of white glue. I spread this with my finger tips as I go. 
7. Work in a warm, dry area so that parts of your deer will dry before others areas are completed. Anticipate that you will need several days to complete the whole process. Wrapping cotton batting figures is not a speedy craft.
8. I rolled small bits of cotton between my finger tips to shape this deer's eyes, nose and ears. I shaped his mussel with a toothpick dipped in white glue.
9. I have included detailed photos of the finished deer prior to painting him with neutral-toned brown acrylic paints. Study these photos closely. 
10. After painting my deer, I then glued milkweed floss to his under belly, his tail and inside his ears. You may use any furry stuff that you have on hand to finish off these little details.
11. Wrap and shape a cotton batting wire hook for hanging the deer with.

Masking the deer. Both his antlers and legs are shaped from chenille stems.

Wrapping the deer with cotton batting, multiple views.

The painted, finished cotton batting deer. His fuzzy tail, belly and inside ears are made from milk weed floss.

The Basics of Sculpting: Start With Basic Shapes:

• Learn Sculpting - Lesson 1 - Clay Modeling This video will help you to get ideas and concepts about basic shapes, how these fit together etc...
• How to sculpt with paper: This video shows how to build a paper shape like the process I used above. Except, I exclude the wire armature when crafting light weight figures for the Christmas tree. It is unnecessary to include intricate internal armatures for very small figures. Also this video depicts a finishing step that is not often used with cotton batting figures, the additional step of applying paper mache pulp.

Assemble a Milkweed Pod Baby Ornament

The milkweed pod babies I craft for fairs and to hang on my own tree.

        These little milkweed pod babies are so easy to make. I love to go for long walks in the Fall with my family. Sometimes we collect a few milkweed pods from a field or roadside for fall crafting. If you should choose to do the same, make sure that you do not take all of the seeds. Spread some of these to the wind so that there will always be milkweed in the area you harvest from. 

      I crafted these little pod babies by first hollowing out the seed pod and setting aside the soft fibers and seeds for the finishing touches. 

      Then I squeezed a generous amount of glue into the pod. Fill this pod with soft cotton and glue into one end of the pod a little clay baby head. These may be easily manufactured from a press mold. You can choose to use flesh colored clay when you make these but I painted my pod baby faces using acrylic paints: pink, flesh tone and brown. Glue the soft fibers with a few seeds back onto the surface of the cotton for a finished look.

      Use a large embroidery needle to thread a silver of gold ribbon through the top of the milkweed pod for hanging.

More Crafts Made With Milkweed:

• Cool Critters from Environmental Education for Kids
• Milkweed Pod Ornaments submitted by Kay C. Powers
• Milkweed Pod Baby Jesus Ornaments
• Old-Time Milkweed Pod Ornaments from Jannell
• Nature crafts from The Enchanted Tree
• Milkweed Pod Wreath
• Grandpa Lang's Pinecone Angels

      The milkweed filaments from the follicles are hollow and coated with wax, and have good insulation qualities. During World War II, over 5,000 t (5,500 short tons) of milkweed floss were collected in the United States as a substitute for kapok. As of 2007, milkweed is grown commercially as a hypoallergenic filling for pillows A study of the insulative properties of various materials found that milkweed was outperformed by other materials in insulation, loft, and lumpiness, but scored well on various metrics when mixed with down feathers. Read more... 

Help Save The Monarch Butterfly, Plant Milkweed:

• Why Should We Care About Monarchs?
• Here's How You Can Help Bring Monarch Butterflies (and Honey Bees) Back from the Brink of Extinction
• Researchers: GM Crops Are Killing Monarch Butterflies, After All
• Toxic pollen from widely planted, genetically modified corn can kill monarch butterflies, Cornell study shows

DIY Cotton Batting Mushroom/Toadstool Christmas Ornaments

Left, the largest cotton batting mushroom was finished with iridescent white glitter. The Center and Right cotton batting mushrooms are finished with glass glitter. The effect reminds me of morning dew.

Left, I've selected a vase with an unusual top to help me "mold" my largest mushroom form. Center, I've designed three prototype mushrooms to photograph for this blog. Here you can see that I have almost finished the sculpting process and have drawn polka-dots on top of two toadstools. Right, the third toadstool/mushroom will have a solid red cap with a frosty trimmed edge instead of spots on top.

 Supply List:

• masking tape
• white school glue and white tacky glue
• newsprint
• white cotton balls
• modeling paper mache pulp (optional, for one of the cap polka-dots)
• glitter, glass glitter and or mica flakes for decorative finishing
• red and white paints for finishing
• wire for inserted hooks
• a small selection of wine glasses for the top shapes of mushroom caps
• acrylic sealer or non-yellowing fixative 
• large embroidery needle and wire for hanging

Cotton batting mushroom ornaments painted.

Step-by-step Directions:

1. Below I have pictured the detailed process of crushing newsprint while wrapping it into shapes with masking tape. This is the first step in the process of sculpting cotton batting mushrooms. Of course, the tighter you wrap and crush the newsprint, the denser it becomes and consequentially, the stronger your ornament will be.
2. The masking tape should be applied to every part of the newsprint's outside surface in order to  ensure that the form may be layered with much glue and paint. The masking tape is the modern replacement for the former use of wheat paste and strips of newsprint. This substitution is superior in many ways: it is easier to manipulate, cleaner to work with and rodents/insects are not attracted to it's odor.
3. You will need to crush two elements; a cap for the top of your mushroom and a stem to attach to the cap underneath. As you can see from the photos below; I have designed three variations of a mushroom in order to emphasize how one object may be interpreted in so many ways.
4. After you have constructed your form, you will then need to untwist the cotton balls so that you have long strips of cotton batting to work with. These strips are ideal for wrapping or "spinning" with when covering the mushroom stem. 
5. Use a generous amount of white glue on top of the form as you wrap the cotton batting around the stem. Let this step of coverage dry.
6. Now cover the cotton wrapped surface with glue again and wipe it into the cotton's surface with your finger tips. You may add several layers of glue and cotton in order to achieve the desired surface on your ornament. There will be bumps and you will learn to smooth over these with additional glue, pressure and small thin sheets of the cotton as you go. Give yourself time to accomplish this and work near a warm vent or sunny window so that you may speed up the drying time of the craft.
7. Some of you may choose to use cotton batting sheets to cover larger surface areas in a more uniform manner. However, I chose not to do so for this particular project because: I knew that I would be adding texture to the mushroom cap for the polka-dots and I also want my students to see that such elements may be successfully sculpted with little more than a skillful light touch if one is dedicated to learning the craft the hard way.
8. Below you can see by the photos how I have wrapped the mushroom with cotton batting and also how I have marked with a red tipped pen where I will add my polka-dot details to the mushroom caps. One mushroom's dots are made by rolling bits of cotton between the finger tips with glue in order to shape small balls. The other dot detailing on my larger mushroom sample was made by mixing modeling mache and dabbing it directly on to the drawn surface to create a rough raised texture.
9. If you should decide to use the miniature rolled cotton balls to decorate the top of your own mushroom ornament, I would also glue an additional layer of cotton batting over these and then a final layer of glue on top of this batting surface to trap the balls into place. This kind of attention to the practice of sculpting with cotton batting is what ensures that your handwork will not only survive but will some day be another person's heirloom.
10. Before painting your cotton batting mushrooms, be sure to wipe down the finished sculpture with a final coat of white glue. I use my finger tips for this process but some of you may prefer to use a soft brush instead.
11. Use a large embroidery needle to dig a small whole in the top of each mushroom cap. Then insert a wire hook along with a generous portion of tacky white glue to the whole. Leave this to dry so that you may have a way to hang the mushroom from a tree branch. If you prefer, you may wish to add a long wire to the bottom of the mushroom instead, by the same means, so that the ornament may be attached to branches from underneath the stem.
12. Use acrylic or watercolor paints to decorate the surface of cotton batting ornaments. Do not paint with oil based paints when working with cotton batting as these will corrode the ornament's surface over time.
13. After adding a few red and white touches of paint,  glue glittery powders, glass beads and mica dust to the surface of your mushrooms.
14. Finally spray the entire surface of each cotton batting ornament with either an acrylic sealer or a non-yellowing fixative.

Step-by-step photos of me crushing and wrapping the cotton batting mushrooms.

Detailed photos of me wrapping the mushroom forms with cotton batting.

Two ways to finish details on top of the cotton batting mushroom caps.

Cotton Batting Toadstools hanging among the evergreens.

More Mushroom/Toadstool Christmas Ornaments:

• cotton batting mushrooms from Miniature Mice and she visited martha stewart to get a tutorial here
• A toadstool ornament crafted from leather from le blog de Gedane
• little felt mushrooms and elves
• handmade felt toadstools from smurfberries
• toadstool doll among others by The Purl Bee
• textile vignette of toadstools with zippers
• embroidered toadstools with wine corks for stems!
• tiny toadstools inside real acorns by Lisa Jordan
• How to crochet a Christmas mushroom

Old-fashioned papier-mâché toadstool ornaments from a 2012 Craft Fair by Kathy Grimm. These little guys have the traditional faces applied to their stems.

      A mushroom (or toadstool) is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) or pores on the underside of the cap. These pores or gills produce microscopic spores that help the fungus spread across the ground or its occupant surface. Read more...

Left, Amanita muscaria, the most easily recognized "toadstool", is frequently depicted in fairy stories and on greeting cards. It is often associated with gnomes.

More Links to Mushrooms:

• Mushroom Observer, a collaborative mushroom recording and identification project
• An Aid to Mushroom Identification, Simon's Rock College
• Online Edible Wild Mushroom Field Guide
• North American Mycological Association
• Pacific Northwest Fungi Online Journal

Fly Agaric toadstool growing time-lapse

A Tutorial for a Hornet's Nest Ornament

I photographed my hornet's nest ornament outside in the crab apple tree. I think it looks pretty convincing. The next time I see it, it will be hanging on a pine tree instead.

A European hornet or a "bell hornet" nest
under construction. To read more about 
this type of hornet go here.

       Many years ago when my husband and I were first dating, we took a fall walk in the woods and came upon a large, abandoned hornets' nest. We were so excited to find one and in such marvelous condition too. My husband pulled down the branch the nest was hanging from and plucked off the nest to take home to his mother. She was absolutely over-joyed to see it!

      This is the memory I thought of when I found a large, dead hornet on my front walk last year. It was perfectly preserved and I believe that it may have been a queen because of it's size. I carefully removed it and tucked it into a drawer for later use. In our family, ornaments are frequently given to remind each other of a particular event. The event doesn't need to seem special to anyone other than ourselves. Today, I made a hornets' nest from paper, dryer lint, a twig and the hornet that I collected last year. I think Doug will enjoy the memory that it brings to mind.

Supply List:

• old egg carton
• twig
• dryer lint (or cotton batting dyed grey)
• a hornet or two (You can purchase fake ones from a silk flower supply.)
• A bronze colored Sharpie
• white school glue and super tacky glue
• masking tape
• newsprint, any kind
• thin wire

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Select a strong twig from outdoors to "hang" your hornets' nest from.
2. Twist a piece of newsprint and a couple of thin wires around the center of the twig. Leave a good quantity of the paper to dangle below the twig. Set this aside.
3. Cut up an old egg carton and tape a few pieced together to serve as the walls of the hornet's nest.
4. glue and tape the tail ends of newsprint inside the egg cup and then wrap the whole form together as one shape in masking tape.
5. Lay out flat a thin sheet of dryer lint. Coat half of the "hive" with white school glue and lay the lint sheet, randomly gathered onto the tacky surface. Repeat the same for the remaining backside of the hive.
6. Now glue into the layered lint, shredded egg carton scraps. Let the hive dry. This may take a day. I didn't cover the entire surface of my hive with paper shreds; I wanted to expose some of the nice textures and colors of the dryer lint.
7. Use a bronze colored Sharpie to draw horizontal lines on top of the shredded egg carton scraps.
8. Glue your wasps down firmly anywhere about the hive with tacky glue. 
9. Fill in cracks where the insects meet the hive so that these will attach well.
10. Coat the finished ornament with a watery glue layer.

Steps 1 - 4. The inside of the hornet's nest will be covered entirely with masking tape when completed.

After you have completed step 5., your hornets' nest should look something like the one pictured above.

Here you can see how I have added shredded egg carton to my hive in order to make it look more realistic. I also use a tacky white glue to attach my real hornet to the hive before drawing stripes onto the paper pieces with the bronze colored Sharpie. I found this hornet on the front walkway of my home, a dead queen bell hornet perfectly preserved, very curious.

Here is my completed hornet's nest. It looks so lifelike. Perhaps my husband will be startled when he unwraps his gift? I hope he doesn't throw it!

 "Watch a European hornet nest with the founding queen in the center of the video. Notice the size difference from the working hornets"