Another Decor Project that you can make yourself!

I have really been in the gourd crafting mood since I got home from this past Gourd Festival which we went to in Alabama.  I found this special gourd that just spoke to me and I had to bring it home.

The Supplies needed for this project are: 

Proxxon Jig Saw

Proxxon Professional Rotary Tool with burrs

Proxxon Delta Sander

Proxxon Band Saw

Alcohol Inks

Q-Tips

Small pieces of t-shirt fabric

Wood burner and Pen

Small wooden stand

Small piece of Cholla cactus

E 6000 glue

Kamar Varnish

Plaid Paint in a dark brown

I started out with a raw gourd that had been cleaned on the outside.

I drew a line that I wanted to cut out. I used my Proxxon Professional Rotary Tool to drill a pilot hole in the gourd and used my Proxxon Jig Saw to cut around the line.

This is what things looked like when I opened it up. Yuck, gourd guts as I like to call it. I was lucky and the guts of this gourd were pretty easy to clean out. That's the part of working on a gourd that I hate, the cleaning.

Here's a good picture of the insides after cleaning.

I got a little ahead of myself with the prior picture but once the gourd was opened up and cleaned I drew oak leaves all around the gourd and wood burned them. I then used this filigree bur to cut around them.

I used this sanding burr that I got from Proxxon Tools to sand the edge all around the top of the gourd. I then used the alcohol inks to color the leaves, the body of the gourd and also the base. I used Plaid paint to paint the inside of the gourd and also around the top. 

I used my Proxxon Band Saw to cut my piece of cholla cactus down to size. Then I used my E 6000 to glue the cholla cactus to the gourd and the cholla cactus to the base.

Here's the final product! I love Fall colors and Fall leaves and I think they came together very well on this piece. I hope you like it as much as I do. Take a look at all the tiny tools that www.proxxon.com has for you to purchase and also www.plaidonline.com and the many products that Plaid has to offer also. 

Barbara