Pegi, I love the gourd and the Santa too!

Beautiful work on the gourd. Gourds are easy to grow Pegi. I soak the seed for 24 hrs in water and peroxide, then nick the side with finger nail clippers, then soak it again for a few hours, then plant in very sunny place. They are vines and can be trained to go up a trellis or fence but I find most of them get very heavy and bend over so I just let them grow on the ground, not much in the way of critters bother them.

I loved all the Santas too.

Samigal...Love that Apple... what kind of paints did she use ?

apple gourds were really easy....I grew them over at my neibors she has flat land and sun but seriously ...I didnt plant them she did...all she did was plant them no soaking..we got 20 off 2 vines ..not sure how many I will have after they dry,Ive lost 2 already...mushy..darn,,,they were a different shape Apple,,a taller not so round... that they didnt make it.

I cant get over how thick the walls of your apple gourd are...wow..i think all gourds are easy to grow...Going to plant more in 13...We cut down 50 + trees Dead Ash,Sold black walnut. I now have wayy more sun

I picked up a few swan neck gourds down the road hoping they dry....I had to harvest my gourds before the vines died...not a real good thing to do,from what I have read,you should leave them on the vine until spring,and yes you leave them lay on the ground all winter ;long...I know weird...something about leaving them on the vine until it dies off,makes for a better dried gourd...www.amishgourds.com

Here is a gourd our dear friend Shoe "made" for us.

The first photo is of the gourd itself and the second photo is where he carved our names with a heart in the center

He had it hanging in his shoffice but I don't have a place to hang it in the house and I'm afraid it will be ruined if I hang it outside.

Do gourds do ok on the ground or do the vines need to be on a trellis? I had seen a few growing on a grape arbor.

Vic, that's such a treasure.

Thank you Sharon - it really is a treasure...

Aren't we all just blessed by the wonderful friendships we have - THANKS TO DAVE AND TRISH!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's a sweet gift from a good friend, Vic. Love it.

Teresa, you can do it either way. Just make sure if you have a trellis it's a strong one if you are growing the large heavy gourds. I had a birdhouse gourd vine get away from me one year and finaly found it, it had run itself up under my cucumber plants and ran along the top of the fence with it being under the cuke it only got one gourd on it and that was at the end of the 20 ft fence.

Huggergirl, my sister doesn't grow her own gourds. There is a gourd farm in her area and she buys from them, plus they have classes there that she took. She does well at every craft she does, I'm sure she got all her creative talent from my mom. On another forum we have a Red, White & Blue swap and that year I got a gourd bowl painted in RW&B and stars cut out of it. It is was done by a gal in either North or South Dakota. It is one of my treasures.

i have used old Ladders as a trellis...they are soo cute ,make sure to anchor them to the ground...It will really make you mad if it blows over,with gourds on it...I was not thinking..OH MEE...

Samigal,what state does your sister live in ? Gourd art Is Intriguing ,burning,leather trim,Inks...wish I knew how to really paint...

My sister lives in California about 2 hours from me. I have no idea what kind of paints she uses but I'm sure she bought all what she needs from the gourd farm. She is trying a lot more things since she retired. She has weaved small baskets from pine needles, just amazing what she can do. And she wondered how she was going to keep busy after retirement. Painted gourds are really expensive, so I'm so glad she made the apple one for me. Mom must have passed on her talent to her oldest and youngest daughter, I kind of got left out.

Samigal said:My sister lives in California about 2 hours from me. I have no idea what kind of paints she uses but I'm sure she bought all what she needs from the gourd farm. She is trying a lot more things since she retired. She has weaved small baskets from pine needles, just amazing what she can do. And she wondered how she was going to keep busy after retirement. Painted gourds are really expensive, so I'm so glad she made the apple one for me. Mom must have passed on her talent to her oldest and youngest daughter, I kind of got left out.

Before retirement, I wondered what I would do to keep busy, but after retiring, sometimes I wish there were more hours in the day for all of the activities I have planned. Samigal, you never know how creative you can be until you try a project.

Yes never sell yourself short...Ask me I know... I love doing crafts...Im not real creative all by myself...Im a copy cat...and I use the Trial an Error method...of doing anything for the first time... Like my Chairs...racked my brain...colors ??? what to do? Ha... splatter...it was soo simple and soo fun...I have splatter painted Tennis shoes now...and a hat...think of what you can splatter....I just Glittered up a pile of pine cones..with that ultra fine glitter they are so pretty. I m going to collect more large pinecones and make some for gifts next Christmas...all I did was paint the high surface with elmers and voila`...


ive got a few things that need repainted for the Garden,might get it done for spring.. :lol

I'm a copy cat too Tamara -

Your pine cones are beautiful and I would encourage you to submit the close up one as a winter garden tip of what you can do with pine cones. It's just gorgeous!

When the pine trees behind our property drop their cones I'm going to start saving them too and see what I can make. They are so pretty. I love all the things you have on your shelf too. I have thoughts of projects I want to do it is just getting them started.

I took all our pinecones and filled up pots and cans for decoration around the porch. Then when we had a fire in the fireplace I would go out and get one of the pots and use the pinecones for fire starters, they have beautiful colors when they burn. I have also taken old scented candles and melted them down then pored it over the cones, let them harden then put them in different areas for an 'accent smell'.

Another GREAT idea for a garden tip

vic said:Another GREAT idea for a garden tip

soo glad you said that...was afraid I was getting off topic...silly me Those pine cones I used some chunky glitter..I need more picks for the red and green micro gittered ones..I`d bet I can find something to use around here.....havent got a good photo of the others to really show how they sparkle..... I also need to find more of those large pine cones...Wanting to do maybe purple..blue...Hmm..grandkids will be thrilled with that project

Vic ,I think thats a great Idea. I want to finish up a few more

Robin,recycle an reuse I love it..using the leftover wax from a jar candle...

And Remember P-Nutbutter an birdseed....

Pegi,Sweet you have your own suppy... Go to pintrest I`d bet there are a million things to do with pine cones posted there...
I just cleaned off the shelves for Christmas...Im an eclectic collector...of all sorts