How to make a gourdgeous punkiwitch

Oh goody Halloween is coming!   this is one of my favorite times for crafting.  Ghouls, scary black cats...pumpkins witches... I can't decide....  Let's throw them all in a boiling cauldron  and see what comes out.      Uh oh.. I think I stirred too much.  Looks like a mutant,  punkiwitch or a witchkin.

This is going to be a creation out of 2 gourds

Supplies: 
2 gourds, one  medium size with a top that we can use for a hat, and  one small one (this one was a long handled dipper that I cut the tail off )
Plaid paints for decoration
Stuff to decorate witch or pumpkin as you desire.   (I used some doll hair)
18" stiff wire
1" dowel   about 6 inches will do
hot glue
scrap wood
2-3 1 1/2 ' screws

Equipment:
Proxxon mini bandsaw
Proxxon mini jigsaw
Proxxon OZI/E delta sander
small drill and drill bits
screwdriver
hot glue gun.
1" forstner bit and drill

Let's go for it!    First thing to do is to select your gourds.   I chose these 2.   The next step of course is to get them clean.  This is easy with a scrubby pad and a little elbow grease.

The next thing I want to do is to cut the top off the larger of the two gourds.  I am going to use this part for the witch's hat.  I also need to cut the tail off the long handled dipper gourd.  Leave a little piece for her neck.  (this is going to be the witch's head).   I used the Proxxon mini jigsaw to do this.  It really does a nice job on gourds and it is super easy to cut a rounded surface with this tool.

Of course after cutting I always sand things smooth with the Proxxon OZI/E delta sander.   Still one of my favorite tools.  It also works really well on gourds.  What is really nice about this sander is that you can change sandpaper pads, if you want a different grit, but you don't have to throw away the one you take off.  It will go right back on.  The velcro attachment is very strong and holds the paper securely but lets you take it off and on when you want to, and reuse them over and over. (call me frugal 👧.)  It's ok, cuz I am.  

I want to make a spring so the witch head will jiggle.  This is easy.  I just twist the wire round and round the dowel, then slide it off.  Presto, a spring is born.  But, then I got to thinking about this (dangerous),  and I think that spring  in the toilet paper roll holder would work even better.  It would be a little stiffer,... but this works well and nobody's gonna be hollering at you from the bathroom that you broke something...  

Now for the technical parts:  Problem #1 is that I have a round bottom gourd and I want it to sit still and not roll around when the witch gets excited.

Problem #2 I need a way to fix the spring securely in the gourd.  

Solution:  I am going to take 2 small pieces of scrap wood and sandwich the gourd between them.  This will give the gourd a platform to sit on and the inside piece will let me fasten the spring to it.  The 2 pieces of wood also provide solid surfaces for my screws to hold.  This little pumpkin gourd is really too thin for a screw to hold well.  

On the inside piece of scrap wood I used a 1" forstner bit to drill a little ways into the wood.  My spring should fit into that hole.  Then I cut it down to size using the proxxon mini bandsaw.  Next I screwed the pieces together using 1 1/2" screws.   See diagram below

inside view of gourd   disregard the strings.

Now we paint and decorate:

Here is the pumpkin part, painted with Plaid paints.

The witch is painted green and her hair and hat are attached with hot glue.  Her hat is purple with white stars and yellow moons. Plaid makes so many nifty colors.  Hair is a mess.   This girl needs a comb!

The neck of the gourd fits easy on the spring. 

 Her jiggly self is all done (for now).   I think I might cut the pumpkin into a jack o'lantern.   Maybe next year!

Thank everyone for visiting.  Hope this helps ya'll get into the spooky spirit.   

Thanks Proxxon, Plaid paints, and Terri.

Catch ya next time.   Carol