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Posted by Barbara M. Martin Nov 11, 2007 |
As I read through these directions on how to carve and decorate a gourd to make a lovely home made hand crafted candle holder -- perfect for a gift, certainly pretty enough to keep for yourself -- I wasn't prepared for the colorful result! Lovely blue iris flowers and soft green foliage make this candleholder look wonderful on the shelf by day, as well as by night with a glowing candle inside. I think of gourds as being a fall or winter project and then this creation made me think of decorated Easter eggs! You can make any kind of decoration in any motif or style YOU like and use your own set of favorite colors on your own version of the cut out decorated gourd. (The second example here has a southwestern style cactus design on it, to give you an idea of the wide variety you could do. And yes, look closely and you will see the cactus in bloom with cactus flowers!) Just follow the instructions and techniques for carving or cutting out the decoration on your gourd and then paint it, or maybe leave it au naturel with the natural gourd coloring for a more rustic or earthy look. Or, make more than one and use lots of different choices. These are lovely any way you decorate them and the choice is entirely up to you! ps I think "pyroengraving" is woodburning? Maybe it's not quite so simple after all, and maybe you don't happen to have any spare gourds lying around waiting to be used up, but these decorated gourds are very cool. Here's the gourd craft project from Arizona Gourds by Bonnie Gibson. Enjoy!
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Copyright November 11, 2007 Barbara Martin All Rights Reserved