Evoke the magic and wonder of the holiday season with these simple spun-cotton ornaments from in-house crafter Hosanna Houser.

Tools and Materials

• Chipboard
• Craft knife
• Masking tape
• Bamboo skewer
• Loose cotton stuffing
• Low-loft cotton batting
• White and red acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Styrofoam block
• Coarse and fine crystal glitter
• "Carrara marble" opaque white glitter

• Hot-glue gun and hot-glue sticks
• Candle clips
• Glitter, tinsel, batting, or reindeer moss for embellishment (optional)

Spun-Cotton Ornament How-To
1. To make form for mushroom cap, cut circle from chipboard, then cut a pie wedge out of circle. Fold circle onto itself at cut wedge and tape with masking tape. To make form for mushroom stem, roll a rectangle of chipboard and use masking tape to secure.

2. Insert a skewer into the stem. Place loose cotton stuffing on mushroom to build up the top of the cap. Tear a circle shape from cotton batting, leaving a long tail. Place circle on cotton batting and pull around the cap; wrap batting tail around the stem to help secure it over the stuffing. Wrap more strips of batting around the stem.

3. Mix white acrylic paint with a little water. Paint mushroom, starting with stem and ending with the cap. Stick skewer in a piece of Styrofoam to hold mushroom upright while it dries.

4. When dry, paint mushroom cap with red acrylic paint. Sprinkle coarse glitter onto cap. Sprinkle fine glitter on the underside and stem; use white "Carrara marble" glitter to make white spots on the cap, if desired.

5. Use hot glue to secure mushroom in candle clips. Fill in clip base as desired using glitter, tinsel, batting, or reindeer moss.

Resources
Wintery glitter available from Martha Stewart Crafts. Cotton stuffing and batting available from Purl Patchwork. Candle clips from D. Blumchen & Company.