How To... Mushroom Thumb Tacks!!

One trend I'm absolutely loving in the craft world at the moment, is the focus on all things woodland... Squirrels, Bunnies, Trees, Forests, Berries, Deer, Foxes, Owls and of course Mushrooms! So much wonder can be found on etsy at the moment... here are a few of my faves:

 Available from Trafalgar Square - I have 3 absolutely stunning prints from TS on my studio wall

 Available from Decoylab  (I loved this one so much I've bought two! hehe)

Available from SleepyKing  This store is one of my long time favourites on etsy, there are SO many gorgeous toys... I am still trying to decide which I love the most... (the fox is currently taking the lead)

Available from Maple Shade Kids This store is a recent find of mine, but I am already so very in love with all of the pieces. AND they are Eco Friendly... which makes me smile rather a lot.

SO.... with all of this inspiration, and the almost completion of my Studio, I felt it necessary to "woodland-ify" my little space, and could think of nothing cuter than some little mushrooms dancing across my walls (also, I am a decided non-lover of shiny gaudy gold...) so Thumb Tacks turned out to be the perfect solution!!

Firstly, I started with the wooden bases, which I purchased for an absolute steal (only $2 for 10!) from Goose Grease Undone 

(aren't they cute!) I painted them red on top, white base and red spots with Jo Sonja's Warm White and Napthol Crimson. Available online or from most craft stores.

I always find that I only need to damp my brushes when painting, and when I need to wash them, I go to the sink, as the jars of water just go murky and taint the next colour... so, I attached a lid to my "palette" (a scrap of shiny cardboard). This allowed me to have just enough water to keep my brush damp and to control the flow of the paint, without having a jar of grey water ready to inevitable spill all over my new creations (I have an uncanny ability to accidentally destroy my own work!).

(and yes, I was properly chuffed with myself for coming up with this! hehe)

Next I decided to flatten the tops of my thumbtacks as I wanted the mushrooms to sit flush against the wall...
Hammering them with a hammer is NOT the solution to this:

Instead I used two sets of pliers and worked my way around the top, flattening as I went... This worked really well :)

Finally, I glued the two pieces together. I used Jewelry glue as I was attaching metal to wood. I find that leaving it for a few seconds to go slightly tacky helps with getting them to stick better... I use a German glue called Hasulith, which you can get from Beads Villiage for about $5.

(and no, I don't know why this picture decided that it wanted to be sideways...!?)

Allow to dry and then you have a super cute set of Mushroom thumbtacks!

I think they make the perfect addition to my walls!

Don't forget to visit my Little Miss Swan page for updates on my own Woodland Inspired collection Petit Lapin... which goes on sale FRIDAY!!!

Puss och Kram!!