Inspire Me Monday- A Mushroom Shelf

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Hi everyone! We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww Monday and Create-with-Joy’s Inspire Me Monday blog hops.

Ihave an unusual craft for you today. A mushroom shelf. Last fall I spotted these mushrooms on a tree along a back road. They stayed all winter and started growing more in the spring. I thought they really do look like a shelf and could be used as one so I did some research.

They are a shelf mushroom, this one is an Artist Conk, called that because some people paint on them like a canvas. You can also etch on them and your etching will stay as it dries.

 

We know the owner of the property this was on so my hubby called him and got permission to take the mushrooms.  Good thing hubby cut them because they were not easy to remove.

These are the 3 we took. We left some so the spores can make more. I etched a cat onto one and some names of people we plan to give them to on the others. Then we dried them for 2 weeks.  Now I need to spray them with a clear coat to keep bugs away and hubby will put a hanger on the back.

 

Joanie is letting Baby Yoda show how he can fit on the shelf. ( They are the Awww…part of the post).  I am deciding if I should paint on these too because there are discolorations from where we had to grip onto them to remove them from the tree.

 

There is a much more detailed tutorial online at Finder Maker’s blog about them. They recommend baking them instead of just drying them, but I decided against it. If you are interested or want to see some really cool shelves, click here. 

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56 comments

  5. That is fascinating about the shelf mushrooms! It was good that Baby Yoda showed us how he fit… a great perspective.

  7. Most interesting. I had no idea you could do this with mushrooms. Brilliant.

    Joanie is a huge Awww as is baby Yoda.

    Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week, Ellen. Scritches to all the kitties. ♥

  13. Mushrooms and fungi are amazing things!
    When in the woods, I tend to snap photos of all kinds of shelf mushrooms, especially one’s that are colorful.

  16. Really interesting and cool. Years ago I saw these in the woods and always thought how interesting they were. Great idea and very, I’m dating myself again, cool

  17. I have never seen nor heard of shelf mushrooms. You learn something new every day! And you are so crafty and had great ideas for them. And, of course, Joanie and her little buddies are always awww worthy!

  18. That looks like a fun project for Mom. Wonder if we can find some of those mushrooms along our trail:)

    Woos – Lightning, Misty, and Timber

  22. Ellen! Those are so very cool! I love your cat etching! What wonderful art works! Thanks for sharing them with us. I sure wish thos mushrooms grew around here.

  24. I would never have thought you could do that with a fungus/mushroom.That is so cool! Sometimes I see those on some of the older trees in our yard, and I once saw a huge one when I was traveling…you could have made a larger sized shelf with it…if only I had known!

  26. Lulu: “Look at those things! It’s like some kind of ladder so elves can climb up the tree!”
    Charlee: “Needing a ladder to climb something. That’s cute.”
    Chaplin: “And kind of sad.”

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