Crocheted Poinsettias

I took a small break from cleaning gourds and crocheted a set of these poinsettias yesterday. They were very quick and easy to make with a warm holiday feel. I hand embroidered the french knots in the center for a realistic look. That really brought me back to the old days when my mother and I sat and did the old fashioned cross stitch (not the counted). After all the gourd cleaning and crocheting my hands are feeling the workout! I need to head outside before the rain hits and finish raking the leaves and cutting back the hostas and then all the perennials are ready for winter. We had some snow the other day but that has now melted. The weather forecast is calling for rain turning into snow by this afternoon and Saturday total snow so I'm heading out now to see what I can accomplish. Have a great day!

Old World Santa

I decided that even though the snow isn't flying here yet in Michigan it's only a matter of time! To get me in the holiday spirit I painted this kettle shaped gourd like an Old World Santa. He's painted with more toned down colors for the Old World look. He has a nice pine needle bottom detail with red berries throughout the garland. I painted his arms and hands at his plump little sides and added a cute detail on his hat with a beautiful gold metallic edge. Santa has a full and curly beard and those rosey chubby cheeks tell you how cold it's been outside! He'll be looking for a home off of my Etsy shop on Monday. You are getting a sneek peek of all the closeups before the listing is up :-)

This gourd would be a great addition to your table as a centerpiece or anywhere else in your home that needs a little Christmas cheer. I have sealed Santa with 3 coats of urethane for indoor, as well as, outdoor use. If you shake him you can hear the gourd seeds inside. Kids love to hear the sound! He's very durable so a few little shakes from the kids won't hurt him at all. Shaking Santa also centers the seeds to the center of the bottom of the gourd so he will sit nice and straight on your table.

Who can resist this cute face?

He measures 9" tall and 7" wide (23" circumference). He reminds me of the roly-poly toys when I was a little girl. TFL!

An Old Find

Now that Halloween is over I started digging through my Thanksgiving decorations and I found this turkey. I had honestly forgotten that I made this little ceramic guy years ago. I had taken ceramic classes (one evening class every week) when my 2 children were little ones. It was my time to get out. interract with other ladies and fulfill my pent up creativity. I loved those classes! I made this turkey when a new technique had come out called "dry brushing" using acrylic paints. This was a great process because I didn't like having to use ceramic glazes and fire the piece in a kiln again. Once I tried this process I was hooked. I always enjoyed the soft look that this painting technique accomplished.

I thought I'd share this funny turkey with you to start off our Thanksgiving season .




I'm currently working on a Santa face gourd and should be sharing him with you soon. I am also planning on painting quite a few snowmen gourds. It's so hard to decide what cute little face to paint first!!!

Have a great week!
Darlene