The holiday season is approaching as the last leaves fall from the trees to blanket the earth in preparation for winter. Daylight hours pass too quickly now and we find ourselves spending more time indoors. This is the perfect time to make some holiday decorations.

"This is the perfect time to make some holiday decorations. A really simple and quick project using a dried, hardshell gourd, is the gourd snowman or snowlady. Anyone, young or old will enjoy this project."

A really simple and quick project using a dried, hardshell gourd, is the gourd snowman or snowlady. Anyone, young or old will enjoy this project. My mother made the snowman pictured here and the following is a list of the materials you will need to create one yourself.

Materials you will need:

• A dried and cleaned bottle gourd (you can use any size gourd you want)
• Light sanding paper
• Clear acrylic paint
• White acrylic paint
• Assorted sizes of black buttons, flat not raised*
• Clear glitter
• Felt top hat*
• Plastic carrot*
• Metal or plastic eyes*
• Clear drying glue
• Yarn for scarf, or fabric, or felt

* These items can be purchased at most craft stores

Instructions:

1. Lightly sand the cleaned gourd, wipe with a moist cloth to remove dust.
2. Using a clear acrylic sealer, cover the entire gourd and let dry.
3. Using a wide, flat brush, paint the entire gourd with white acrylic paint and let dry.
4. Using the same brush, paint the entire gourd with a second coat of white acrylic paint. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle the entire gourd with the clear glitter. Let dry thoroughly.
5. Using craft glue or a hot glue gun, glue on the top hat. Next, glue on the eyes, then the nose. You may have to hold the nose for a minute until the glue sets. Now glue on the smaller black buttons for the mouth, and finish with buttons down the front.
6. The scarf is the finishing touch. If you know how to knit or crochet, you can make a real yarn scarf for your snowman. The one shown in the picture is hand crocheted using red, 2 ply yarn. If you don’t knit or crochet just cut a swatch of any fabric and finish the edge using pinking shears. The scarf can be glued down to hold it in place.

The result is a really cute snowman to show off to your friends and family. In fact, you might want to create a whole snow family to place on a mantle or in a window. It’s fun to create new and original pieces. The wide assortment of craft accessories available today makes it easy and fun to make original holiday decorations. Clean, dried bottle gourds in a variety of sizes can be found on line at www.AmishGourds.com.

Other shapes and sizes of clean dried gourds make excellent Christmas ornaments. Acrylic paints and glitter can create beautiful hand made tree trimmings. Another quick and easy finish would be decoupage glue and tissue paper (preferably holiday colors). There are many books available on gourd crafts that give step- by -step instruction on different techniques and finishes.

I hope you enjoy working with gourds and creating long lasting decorations. May the holiday season fill your homes with happy times and surround you with family and friends.

Chip Konrad - Chip Konrad is the creator and webmaster of a website devoted entirely to hard shelled gourds. As a member of the Pennsylvania Gourd Society and the American Gourd Society, he is also involved with local organizations to teach gourd art and craft techniques. His partnership with an Amish family in Lancaster County Pennsylvania has enabled them to market their gourds nationwide. Crafters love the dried, clean gourds, low prices, and terrific customer service.   Website: Amish Gourds To review the Reprint Rights for this article, please go to the authors page by clicking the button below.