Fall Brings Gourds

Ever since I started my blog, I've wanted to devote a post

 to APPLE GOURDS.

They are  unique and intriguing. A fascination to me. I've

grown a lot of gourds, when we lived in the country and

had the space. You've probably seen them made into bird

houses and decoration crafts. My favorite is the Apple Gourd. 

They grow to about 8" to 10" and look just like an apple.

I'm doing this post in hopes you fall in love with them as

 much as I did. Right now, during the Fall Craft fairs

and events is when you'll find them.

This year's crop, from the patch will

look like this one. If you buy a green one, 

you will have to dry it.

CLICK HERE for information on drying, growing and

 variety s of  gourds

There's a big bonus buying any gourd. There's seeds inside !

I would buy a fresh picked green gourd and dry it on your own

if you want to harvest seeds. With the dried gourds, there's

no guarantee how old the might be and I've had difficulty

growing older seeds.

If they are dried, they will look like these. 

Buying dried gourds cuts down on a lot of work

and may be a little more expensive. They are 

ready for painting, decoupage or making

a bird house.

CLICK HERE to learn how to make a bird house. 

***always wear rubber gloves***

For those of you who have not discovered the miracles

of TSP...CLICK HERE 

Can be purchased at

Lowe's

Home Depot

Walmart

Here is one of my Apple gourds, I decoupaged the kids, grand kid's & great gran kid's  

photos onto. I sculpted my leaves with Crayola Model Magic. After they were dry I hot 

melted them onto my gourd.

This is not an Apple gourd, but I painted it in 04' ( Crap...that was ten years ago !) and still 

decorate with it.

Here's some more examples of pretty Apple Gourds, for ideas. Some of the images are linked to sites.

Here's a sheet of elements you might want to decoupage onto your gourds

using a cute pair of kittens from BUM,BE BUTTON and pretty roses

from FLICKER

(1) Clean the gourd

(2) Paint the gourd

(3) Decoupage the elements onto the gourd

(4) Add an antique glaze

When I decoupage, I prefer to use decoupage paper, wrapping paper or tracing paper.