DIY Sculpey Mushroom

This is a fun sculpey project that is perfect for mushroom lovers.

You will need:

1. A box of Sculpey

2. A sheet of card stock paper

3. A small handful of little rocks

4. One roll of 26 gage wire

5. Wire cutters

6. Toothpicks

7. A pencil

8. A small pot

9. A bag of sand (can be found at Ben Franklin)

10. Scissors

11. Oven

12. Timer

13. Hands

First, pick two sculpey colors for the mushroom.

Take one color from the two, and break off a small corner. This color will be used for the stem.

Now, take the piece and roll it in your hand to create a circle. After that, press the sculpey down to make a flat circle.

Next, take the flat circle and go around the edges stretching the circle gently making it a little bit wider.

Then, take almost half of the rest of your clay off the block, and push it together in your hand.

With the clump, roll it into a snake-like shape. Now, roll it out on the table to make it longer, and thinner.

Get the wire and wire cutter. Measure out the wire a tiny bit shorter than the clay, and cut.

With the wire piece, bend it as straight as possible with your hands.

Take the wire and place it on top of the sculpey. Press the wire into the clay as far as you can, and pinch the top half of the sculpey to make an arch.

Fold the top half of the sculpey onto the bottom half, covering the wire. Now, press the sculpey together, so that the wire is hidden better. Next, push down on the seam so that it isn't as pointy. Go around the edges pressing down so that it is flatter.

With the snake-like piece of sculpey, pull off a small section of the top, being sure you don't reveal the wire. After that, bend over a small portion of the clay, revealing the wire. You do this so that you know where to stop when taking the end of clay off. Now that you know where the wire starts, straighten the clay out, and remove the sculpey, making sure the wire is almost poking out. Pinch around the tip of the wire so that it comes to a point. Fold the sculpey flap over the wire, so that is once again is hidden. Now, smooth the sculpey over so that no seams are seen. Do the same to the other side.

• With the Flat circle we created earlier, place it at any end of the snake-like sculpey piece. Fold it over so that it looks like a taco with a snake sticking out of it. Keep folding the taco shape over and over, so that it is nicely tight against the snake. You have now completed the base.

Moving on the top of the mushroom, grab your next color of clay and take a small chunk off of the block. Roll it into a small, stubby, snake shape.

take the small snake shape, and press down on it with your hand and flatten it as much as you can, trying to make as much as a rectangular shape as you can. Now, carefully peel the sculpey off the table, and flatten it gently in your hand so that the sides aren't sticking up, but instead, flat.

This step in making the mushroom is particularly hard. First, fold over a triangular side of the flattened rectangle, leaving a small hole in the center. Carefully roll up the top of the mushroom, so that it looks like a 3D triangle. Close the small seam with your fingers so that it isn't visible. Now, insert a pencil, eraser side up, into the triangle, and use your fingers to close the seam even more. When you're done, your seam should barely be visible.

You will find that the top of the triangle has a small hole in it. To deal with this, carefully squish the top with your fingers. It will now have a flat top. Squish it the other way to make it pointed. Make sure the triangle is nicely built so that it doesn't fall apart in the oven. Since the entire triangle isn't hollow, carefully stick a pencil up the hole, point side up, making sure it doesn't poke through the other side.

Grab a small handful of sculpey, possibly from your scrap pile, and roll it into a ball using the same technique as in step four. push the clay down and turn it into a semi-thick flat circle. Use a pencil to poke a hole straight through the circle, and slide it back and fourth to make a good hole.

Now, Carefully slide the sculpey off of the pencil and onto the stem about a centimeter through. Put the mushroom top over the head. If the head is wider than the top, take the top off, and squish around the head, making it smaller, and longer.

Take your stem color, and break off a small section. Use the same technique as in step seven to make a snake-like shape. Wrap the snake around the bottom of the original head.

Push together the head, making it smaller and squattier. Keep pressing until there is no space between the sections. Then, smooth over the seams so that they disappear.

Now, the head is still too big for the top to fit onto, So squish and press until it is flatter, and longer. If there is a small skinny tip sticking out of the head, carefully remove it so that the head fits on more comfortably. You may also have to remove a little bit of the head, but make sure the wire is never exposed.

Get a very small piece of clay that is the same color as the stem. Roll it into a small oval shape, and use a toothpick to poke small nostrils making sure not to poke through the other side.

Get the mushroom top, and carefully bend the bottom outwards. This will help it stick to the head better.

Slide the mushroom top onto the head, and set it on the table. Carefully attach the nose the head, nicely tight against the mushroom top. The nostrils probably caved in a bit, so carefully open the back up with a toothpick, just enough to be able to tell it's a nose.

You can either keep it how it is, or add a mustache. For adding a mustache, grab another sculpey color and take a small chunk off the corner, a little bit smaller than in step three. roll it into a small snake shape using the same technique as in step seven. Attach it just under the nose and curve it downward on both sides, giving the mushroom a grumpy look.

Grab a very small piece of clay that is the same color as the stem, and roll it into a tiny snake shape. Attach it right under the mustache giving him a bottom lip.

Using a toothpick poke a hole through the mushroom base for stability. Poke it about a little under an inch through.

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and place your mushroom in a glass dish. When the oven is preheated, place the dish in the oven, and set the timer for fifteen minutes.

while your mushroom is baking, fill your pot with sand, leaving only about a centimeter of the pot uncovered.

With your scissors, cut about a centimeter off of a toothpick.

When your mushroom is done baking, slide the toothpick in the hole, sharp side in. After that, insert him into the pot filled with sand.

When your mushroom is in the sand, lay your small rocks on top of the sand. You do this to stabilize your mushroom even more.