Glowing Mushrooms

I remembering seeing the movie Avatar not too long ago and being absolutely amazed at these glowing fungi and alien plantation that littered the fictional world of Pandora. Completely dazzled by them I thought, hey, why don't I just make some of my own!

So I thrifted through my old art boxes and found some supplies. When I came across a silicone tube sitting in the back of the shed it clicked, this would be the essential thing needed to make these luminous mushies. Not only does silicone dry fast into the mould of your choice, but it also allows light to filter through, forming an unearthly glow.

After much experimenting, I finally got it, my end result; a beautiful lamp full of glowing mushrooms and I'm completely stoked at how it ended it. Just magical.

To create this project, here are a list of the tools and supplies needed:

-A hot glue gun with melting sticks

-A firm and sturdy piece of driftwood

-Fairy lights

-Silicone tube (clear silicone) and a silicone clamp

-Coloured paints. For this project, I used acrylic paints in the colours light blue, light green, mustard yellow and red.

-Assorted fake mosses/plants

-Cling wrap

-Tweezers

-A spoon or toothpick (for mixing silicone and paint, and attaching the mixed product onto the fairy lights)

After gathering all your supplies, the first thing you'll need to do is to attach the fairy lights across the driftwood with hot glue, assuring that all the wire is held on firmly. You'll want to bend the wire into a I-shape (see image) for each little light you want to make into a mushroom; this will be your stem. Don't worry about the wire standing out and looking obvious, you can cover it up later!

Next it's time for the mushroom caps. With your silicone tube in the clamp, squeeze a coin-sized amount onto the centre of a clean, flat piece of cling wrap. Add a tiny dab of your preferred paint colour onto the silicone and mix in well with a spoon. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. Too much paint will make the silicone mix really gooey and it won't dry properly! Fold the cling wrap over the silicone and shape with thumb or lid into a dome (see image). This is the cap of the mushroom. Repeat as many times as needed to create enough caps for the amount of stems you have.

Tip: When I created my project, I used four different colours to make the mushrooms. I put in more paint for the caps so that the colour was more vibrant and less for the stems so that they had a more pleasing affect.

Squeeze a fair amount of silicone onto a sheet or a plastic lid. Mix in a very small amount of paint with a toothpick or spoon. Scrap a small amount of this mix onto the fairy light I-shapes until the wire is covered (except for the very top where the light is). Smooth the silicone so that it is evened out and no rough edges are visible. Repeat until all wire pieces standing upright (the stems) are covered with the silicone mixes.

Once all the silicone has dried, carefully remove the mushroom caps from the cling wrap, cutting off the excess silicone. With hot glue, glue these caps onto the stems you've made earlier.

Now, to cover those visible wires, use artificial moss or plants and place generously until you're satisfied.

For a finishing touch, I included a paper butterfly by printing out an image online, cutting it out and then brushing it with a varnish.

Tip: Make sure that the fairy light battery box is hidden behind or underneath the log by attaching it with hot glue so that it isn't visible.