DIY Mushroom Tealight Holder

You may have noticed that mushrooms are all the rage lately! And there is a reason – they contain powerful health-boosting vitamins and minerals for us and help our beloved forests absorb carbon, thereby limiting climate change. In short, they are Earth's great recyclers! So, if you're anything like me, you think there's a lot to love about these fantastic fungi. I love them so much that I decided to make my own Mushroom Tealight Holder, serving as some cozy décor for my home as well as a nightlight. I think function and fashion can co-exist!

Follow the steps below to create your own DIY Mushroom Tealight Holder.
For this project, you will need the following materials:

• Felt from The Felt Store in the following colours:
  • Acrylic Burgundy
  • Acrylic Ivory
  • Viscose Olive
  • Viscose Light Brown
• Sewing needles and thread in colours to match your felt
• Fabric Stiffening Spray
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
• Flame-less tealight candle (available at your local Dollarama or Dollar Tree)
• Fabric scissors
• Polyfil or another type of fibre fill
• Stuffing tool, such as a chopstick
• Disappearing Ink Marker
• The template (pictured below) – to be used with a Cricut Machine or to be cut out by hand

Template

Steps

1. I am using a Cricut Maker to cut out my felt pieces, but you could also print the template and attach it to your felt pieces, tracing with your disappearing ink tool and cutting using your fabric scissors. If you are using the latter method to cut your felt, be sure to attach your templates to your felt using pins to avoid slipping while you are tracing and cutting. Please note that the template provides dimensions, but is not created to scale, so adjustments will have to be made manually.
   
   Since we are doing an Amanita muscaria mushroom (commonly known as a fly agaric mushroom), we will be adding some dots to the mushroom cap. Using a simple running stitch, stitch the white dots to your red mushroom cap in whatever pattern or combination you like best. Set aside. Note: you can find simple tutorials on YouTube for all of the stitches mentioned in this tutorial.

2. Using your disappearing ink marker, add several lines to the large white circle in a star formation. These will be the guides to create what's known as the “gills” of the mushroom. Using a back stitch and some grey thread, fill in the guides with stitches.

3. Now that the details have been added to the top and bottom of your mushroom cap, it's time to stitch them together. Using a blanket stitch, stitch the red circle and the white circle together, leaving a space for your fibre fill. Insert the fibre fill to your desired density and close the stitch.

4. Next up is the base of your mushroom. This includes the stalk, the little doorway and the ring or skirt. For more clarification, Google “mushroom anatomy”. Of course, you won't find any doorways in this Google search, but it's fun to add a little fantasy to your projects! Let's begin by adding the doorway. Place your brown doorway on top of the white stalk so that the two circles line up. Take some brown thread and attach the doorway to the stalk using a running stitch. I have chosen to add some embellishments to the door, including a pom pom doorknob and some wood grain. You can do the same or keep it simple.

5. Once you've added your doorway and any embellishments you might like to include, it's time to stitch the two ends of the stalk together using a blanket stitch.

6. Now to attach the stalk to the mushroom cap. If you have a spare cardboard toilet paper roll, I have noticed that this is the perfect size to help the stalk keep it's shape as you hot glue it to the mushroom cap (just be sure to leave a little space at the top so you don't accidentally glue the cardboard to the cap). Another thing to note is that this method assumes that you are creating the DIY mushroom tealight holder to the exact dimensions listed in the template. You can adjust it to your sizing preference, of course, but a standard cardboard toilet paper roll will not necessarily fit inside the stalk if the dimensions are adjusted. You can also use some fabric stiffening spray to give it some more stiffness. This helps it maintain it's shape once the cap is glued adhered. Apply a thin layer of hot glue to the top edge of the stalk and gently press it into the bottom and middle of the mushroom cap (“gill” side down). Don't be too worried if a little bit of hot glue shows. This will be easily covered up when you add the “skirt” or “ring” underneath the cap. Using more hot glue, attach the “skirt” to the stalk just below the cap, cutting off any excess at the back of the mushroom).

7. Last, but not least, it's time to create the base upon which your mushroom (and tealight) will sit. Using two or more layers of large green felt circles, hot glue them together. By adding multiple layers, you are creating a sturdier base on which to place your tealight and mushroom. Take the smaller green circle and hot glue it in the middle of the base. This smaller circle is measured to a standard tealight size (1.5 inches in diameter) and gives you a defined area on which to place your tealight.
8. Place your flame-less tealight on the smaller circle, put the mushroom on top and voila! You have an adorable and functional nightlight for your home or child's room! We hope it goes without saying that you should only ever use a flame-less, battery-powered tealight for this project. Stay safe and have fun!

Did you try this project? If so, be sure to snap a photo, share on social media, and tag @the_felt_store and @the.felted.fawn. Happy crafting!