Mario Mushroom Ornaments

I was inspired by This Featured Post in an instructables email, but as I have three kids under the age of three, I needed to make my ornaments out of something a little more solid than styrofoam. I chose to make mine out of round wooden balls and a thick dowel.

Tools:
- Saw (I used a mitre saw)
- Paint brush(es)

Materials:
- 1.5" Round Wooden Ball
- 7/8" Wooden Dowel
- Wood Glue
- Acrylic Paints
- Mod Podge
- Eyelets
- Ornament Hanger (or wire)

First, cut the round ball just below the center line using whatever kind of saw you have available. I cut the ball below the center line to create a nicely rounded top for the mushroom. Then cut the dowel so that you have a 1/2" long piece.
*Be very careful as you do this, as saws do not always cut spheres easily - my miter saw launched the first wooden ball across the room because I did not have it held in place firmly.*

Once the pieces are cut, glue one of the ends of your dowel to the flat side of your freshly cut round ball.

I enlisted the help of my three year old daughter to paint the tops of these ornaments. She had a great time doing it, and it turned out quite well! The paint we used was just an assortment of acrylic colors that we had in the house. We chose to do one red, one green, and one blue mushroom. After she finished painting the tops, I coated the bottoms in white and painted on the black eyes. We did two coats of paint for the colors, and then two coats of Mod Podge to seal it all up.

Before coating the ornaments in Mod Podge, I installed the eyelets and hangers so that I could hang the ornaments to dry. The eyelets I used were just something we had around and they screwed in to the ornaments easily to provide a nice place to mount the hangers.

Finally, just hang them on your tree and admire!