I’m always on the hunt for crafty cork projects that I can do with my grands. Since the children love to look for mushrooms, read about mushrooms and actually, eat mushrooms, I thought we’d do this little cork mushroom art project.
These grands are 5 and 3, and so we need to have craft projects that entertain, as well as take a short amount of time. So, they donned their art smocks and we got busy painting.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Champagne corks
Unless you already have a large amount of champagne corks, you’ll need to order them, as I did, from Amazon. I have plenty left over for another project, which I am thinking might be Christmas oriented. Champagne corks typically have wider tops and narrower bottoms, unlike wine corks.
Acrylic paints and accoutrements
Gather acrylic paints in a variety of colors, along with paintbrushes, a plastic tablecloth to cover the work area and bowls for water and paint. We also used Q-tips.
Books and resources
I threw in a mushroom book for reference – “Missouri’s Wild Mushrooms” – that has been in the bookcase for years and shows the wear-and-tear from one grandson in particular, who has claimed this one as his favorite read since he was 2. He’s now 6 and still seeks the book out when he comes to visit. Or, you could find a children’s book that features mushrooms in fairy garden type settings or fairy tales.
In fact, check out this mushroom that I found in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye in Scotland back in 2017. I had never seen one like this before – magical!
Older children might be able to replicate some funky colors and even add a bit of texture to the process. These littles just loved painting, and of course, we talked about mushrooms while we painted. The 5-year old is a natural morel hunter, and found quite a few on a family hunt this past spring. The 3-year old loves to find mushrooms in cracks on stumps and point them out. It’s never a dull moment outdoors after it rains around here.
Odd bits and pieces
Finally, you’ll need some wooden skewers – at least a foot long – and a container to place the skewered corks into so that the art can dry naturally.
Take a skewer and poke the pointy bit into the bottom of a cork. That helps for support when you paint it. Paint the top and place the skewer into the container, and grab another skewer/cork combo. After the top has dried, paint the stem. Then, the top and then the stem again. It’ll take a couple of coats of paint, and you may want to differentiate between the cap portion and the stem. You can be as imaginative as possible, really.
Grab a Q-tip and dip in paint to make the dots.
After a couple of coats, you may want to spray the finished cork/mushroom with a matt gloss or UV resistant art spray, especially if the art will be in a window in the sun. Of course, you can’t put these mushrooms outdoors where they might get rained on.
They, do, however look pretty cute in a pot with a plant, and add a little zip of color. They also add another memory to fun times with family.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
