Mushroom Family (Red) | Papercraft

A mother mushroom with her impressive red toadstool and a small flock of mushroom children around her - this mushroom family looks almost as if it has stepped straight out of an old fairy tale book.

With their red caps and nostalgic, hand-painted look, the family fits beautifully with autumn nature decorations, but also into a classic Christmas setting with gnomes, pine cones, spruce, and small figures on the windowsill.

Let the mushroom family move in

Cut out the mother mushroom and the little mushroom children and gather the family on a shelf, on the windowsill, or among your other autumn and Christmas decorations.

Mother mushroom has quite an impressive toadstool and may therefore need a little help to keep her balance. You can provide support from behind or carefully secure the figure with a small piece of tape.

The family is especially nice together with pine cones, moss, branches, and other natural materials, or as a small part of a larger Christmas landscape with gnomes and the other paper cut-outs from the series.

Hand-painted Danish paper cut-outs

The paper cut-out is designed by Tall Hat Tales and has a charming, hand-painted look, where the mother mushroom and her little mushroom children each have their own personality.

There is something wonderfully old-fashioned about the motif. It brings to mind a time when climbing gnomes, paper decorations, and small Christmas landscapes were allowed to spread out on shelves and windowsills throughout December.

The red toadstool in the world of fairy tales

The red mushroom with white spots has become an almost universal symbol of the fairy-tale forest. In illustrations, children's books, and Christmas decorations, we find it again and again among gnomes, elves, and the forest's little creatures.

The inspiration comes primarily from the fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, which, with its vibrant red cap and white spots, is one of our most recognizable mushrooms.

The fly agaric also grows in Denmark and is seen especially from late summer and throughout the autumn. It lives in symbiosis with tree roots and is found, among other places, near birch, spruce, and pine.

Even though it looks like it was created for a fairy tale, the real fly agaric should of course be left in the forest, as it is poisonous and must not be eaten.

From forest floor to Christmas decoration

During the 1800s and early 1900s, mushrooms became a popular motif in European illustrations and Christmas decorations. In particular, the fly agaric found its way onto postcards, Christmas ornaments, and fairy-tale illustrations, often side by side with gnomes and other small forest creatures.

The red mushroom was, among other things, considered a symbol of luck and good fortune in parts of Central Europe, and old Christmas cards can therefore be decorated with fly agarics, four-leaf clovers, and other lucky symbols.

Perhaps that is why the red toadstool still feels so natural among gnomes, spruce, and old-fashioned Christmas decorations, even though the mushrooms' actual peak season is in the autumn.

Product information

• Unique Danish design
• Mushroom family motif (Red)
• Printed on sturdy 300-gram paper
• A5 format
• Printed on both sides
• Figures are to be cut out by the user
• Suitable as Christmas decorations, ornaments, table decorations, and place cards
• The motifs are hand-painted, so the front and back may vary slightly

Need the right tools?

For the fine details in papercraft, we recommend a sharp hobby knife and a good cutting mat. You can purchase our cutting set for papercraft and paper cut-outs, which includes an NT-Cutter precision knife with 10 blades as well as a Linex cutting mat.