Since we have seen many gourds come out of the Jack Shaq beautiful enough to sell, we decided to have a contest again this year. Our catalog team will judge all entries and select at least one winning original design. The winner’s design, name and photo will appear in our 2012 catalog. The winner will receive 5% of the wholesale price of each piece sold for as long as we sell it. The winner will be announced before our auction on Saturday, October 15th.
Come out on Friday, October 7th and Saturday, October 8th as well as October 14th and October 15th for a chance to Create your Jack O’Lantern, Scarecrow or Green Witch!
Here is a photo of last year’s winning gourd and its creator, Isabel Ilaria, in our 2011 Fall Catalog! Isabel receives 5% of sales for this product!
Meadowbrooke Gourds goes on the road during the year to various shows, festivals and expos! Fall is an especially busy time with fun things to do throughout Pennsylvania virtually every weekend! Mark your calendars for the following fall events. Be sure to stop by the Meadowbrooke display and say hi when you’re there! We look forward to meeting you.
Meadowbrooke Gourds at National Apple Harvest Festival
September 10th East Berlin Colonial Days
September 17th Scarecrow Festival at the Broken Spoke Shop in Somerset, PA (Create your own Jack O’Lantern)
September 17th Sacred Heart Wine Festival in Hanover, PA
September 24th Moravian Book Store Bethlehem, PA (Create Your Own Jack O’Lantern)
September 25th The Yellow Barn Center Valley, PA (Create Your Own Jack O’Lantern)
October 1st Waterloo Gardens Exton, PA (Create Your Own Jack O’Lantern)
October 1st and 2nd National Apple Harvest Festival Arendtsville, PA
October 8th and 9th National Apple Harvest Festival Arendtsville PA
October 9th Plow and Hearth Grand Opening in Harrisburg, PA (Create Your Own Jack O’Lantern)
Create your own Jack will be available at a number of these events!
More about each of these fun events coming soon!
Since a dried gourd can be crafted like a piece of wood, it offers a wonderful medium to be crafted in a multitude of ways. Probably the easiest way to craft a gourd when you’re getting started is to paint them! We are always in awe at the creativity displayed through gourd painting. Many paintings go beyond “crafts” and enter the world of fine art.
A couple hints:
-Acrylic paints or oil paints will work on your gourd
- No need to seal or sand the gourd before painting it
- Let your imagination run wild!!
Here are a few examples of painted gourds that we just love! Use them as inspiration for your own gourd painting projects:
Gourd Art by Bonnie Gibson. arizonagourds.com
So bright and beautiful! (image courtesy of Coconut Grove Grapevine.)
Our very own Dorris Risser's Folk Art Cat Gourd (one of Meadowbrooke Gourd's past painting classes)
Morning Glory and Ladybug gourd painting class
Just adorable! by Aurelia Conway in the book "Great Garden Gourds Book"
Meadowbrooke Gourds offers painting classes throughout the year at our farm in Carlisle, PA. Experience painting gourds with the help of a professional artist! Check our website for upcoming classes.
We hope everyone had a fantastic Fourth of July Weekend!! We are sailing into July with our new Sailboat gourd. It is natural in color with a sailboat cut -out. It is approximately 5 inches in diameter and comes with an electric light. This makes the perfect compliment to last month’s Baby Whale Gourd. Whether you are decorating a beach house, bathroom or a nautical-themed room, this sailboat gourd is a must! We hope you enjoy our July product of the month.
Click the photo to purchase!
We hope that you all are having a great day! It is absolutely beautiful here in Carlisle. If you have ever considered growing your own gourds and this springtime weather has you in the mood to try it, here are some tips and advice for you to get started. The process of growing, drying and crafting your own gourds is a fun one to consider.
Gourds crafted by Meadowbrooke Gourds
This time of year in our Zone (Central PA -Zone 6) is actually the perfect time to begin growing gourds. Plant your gourd seeds in about a 3 inch container or pot. Be sure to use no more than 2 seeds in each pot.
P.S. We offer gourd seeds of all shapes and sizes at mbgourds.com and in our retail store.
After they have been planted, soak the seeds with water. Then place the gourds in sunlight somewhere in your home and water them regularly like you would any normal house plant.
June 1st is about the time to plant your already potted gourds outside! Make sure to plant the seeds outside in full sun, leaving about 8 inches between each plant. When watering, be careful not to soak the leaves themselves because this could spread disease. Try using soaker hoses or drip irrigation.
Don’t forget: Frost is an enemy of gourd plants and will ruin them. Be sure to check frost conditions so that your plants can grow to their full potential!
For more detailed and specific instructions be sure to check out our website!
Happy Planting! We’d love to hear about your gourd planting and see pics so please feel free to share.
Join us on April 30th for our Spring Fling Event! This is the perfect opportunity to get that special gift for Mom. We are also really excited to be able to offer a new Class – Create your Own Cat! Here are the sizes and colors you will be able to choose from:
Don’t miss out on our 25% retail sale and free gift with $25 or more purchase. Celebrate Spring with us! More information:
We are considering a new class this month at Meadowbrooke Gourds! It would be a Create-Your-Own Cat Class during our Spring Fling to be held on April 30th. Below is a photo of the two sizes and 5 colors you would be able to choose from. We would love to hear from you if you would be interested in this class!
We hope that all of you are just as excited that spring is officially here as we are. With this lovely season comes our annual Spring Open Houses. We hope you will join us at one or all of our dates: April 1st and 2nd or April 8th and 9th.
On April 1st and 2nd we will be celebrating springtime and Easter with a paint-your-own birdhouse, easter basket, and easter eggs workshops. The costs range from $1-12. We’ll provide the supplies and all you need is your creativity!
Some really creative birdhouse designs done by our wonderful customers
Bring the kids along and encourage them to participate in the Kid’s Art Contest. We will be giving prizes for the best painted gourd egg in three different age groups.
We want to help out the Big Spring Area Food Bank and we could use your help as well! We’re trying to fill our gazebo with as many non-perishable items as possible. For every two items donated, we’ll give you one hole punch on your Frequent Shopper Card!
See you on April 1st! For more information visit our website.
We don’t know about you, but at Meadowbrooke Gourds we are on to thinking about spring! During these dreary, snowy winter days, cheer yourself up by thinking of warm weather and spring blossoms! Here are some of our new gourds available online now.
(Stay tuned…we will be taking you behind the scenes of our production area to show you the crafting process of our new spring products!)
This chick has a yellow top with a white egg shell bottom. The top comes off like a lid so you can fill it with treats for Easter. Approximately 5" in diameter.
Our new grey Kourtney bunny collection has a white belly and a bright colored bow. The Large Lit, Medium Tall Lit and Large Tall Lit come with an electric light.
A close up of the medium tall Kourtney bunny!
Two nights ago Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe held their holiday special and our Meadowbrooke Gourds episode was part of it!!
If you missed it, click here for a clip.
Photo from the clip
Roger our Washroom Manager (we featured him in a previous post!) with Mike Rowe
