A papier-mâché mushroom with glowing gills, growing from the remains of an old mini-dictionary. Made as a gift for my secret Santa. A battery pack and switch are built into the underside of the book. The mushroom is thick papier-mâché, sanded and finished with a matte clear coat. The gills are folded sections of the dictionary paper from the hollowed section.
A couple of tubes of sealant later, I had 30-some glowing mushrooms and a few fairy street lights ready for installation. Most mushrooms glow with the vibrant & eerie light of amber LEDs, while a few have white LEDs shining through tinted silicone.
After some trial and error, I arrived at a healthily glowing design. The mushrooms are constructed with transparent silicone (acetoxy cure), tinted with a drop of liquid watercolour. I moulded the main body sections by sandwiching the silicone between layers of cling film. The rounded caps are formed by stretching this over a large marble. The stalks by rolling into an even stick with the wires embedded in the silicone....
I prototyped some glowing mushroom caps for an outdoor installation. The caps are clear silicone, tinted with watercolour. They surround an amber SMD LED.