Have you visited our Meadowbrooke Gourd Pumpkin Patch yet this fall? If not, we invite you to come on out to our farm during regular store hours to pick-your-own pumpkins and ornamental gourds.

Once you have your freshly picked pumpkins, it’s time to try something crafty! We loved the idea of a chevron pumpkin and wanted to share this easy, DIY project with you on our blog.

What you will need:
A Pumpkin or Gourd
Masking Tape
White Spray Paint

Step 1: Start with a clean, dry pumpkin. You could also use this technique on one of our raw, cleaned, dried gourds.

Step 2: Start adding approx 2 inch strips of masking tape to the pumpkin in a diagonal fashion in order to create the chevron pattern

Don’t worry about making it perfect, the subtle differences will give your pumpkin character!

Step 3: Continue adding the masking tape strips around the pumpkin until you are satisfied with the amount of stripes you will be left with once it is painted.

Step 4: Hand paint or spray paint your pumpkin with a white paint. (We used spray paint.)

Step 5: Once the paint is completely dry, pull off the tape to reveal your chevron patterned pumpkin.

(Optional) Use an acrylic sealer to preserve the paint.

Happy fall decorating!

Perhaps one of the oldest uses for gourds are as vessels for holding and transporting liquids. Dippers, bowls and drinking vessels have historically been crafted from gourds by peoples from around the world.

Have you heard of the drink called yerba mate?  An infusion that hails from Argentina, it has become increasing popular over the years, due in part to its rejuvenating and antioxidant properties.  This link will tell you all about how to prepare the drink and its history, but what we want you to know is that the bitter infusion is prepared in – and consumed from – a gourd in combination with a metal straw called a bombilla. Our raw roger gourds could be used in crafting a mate gourd, if you so choose. They are also offered for sale at Guayaki and other online vendors.

Curing Your Mate Gourd

We recommend that you “cure” your gourd prior to your first use. This helps to protect the gourd for yerba mate use.

1. Using a teaspoon, scrape the inside of the gourd to remove any loose skin and debris.
2. Fill the gourd ½ full with dry loose yerba mate.
3. Carefully top off the gourd with boiling water. Note: when drinking yerba mate later, DO NOT use boiling water as this can burn your mouth and also harms the flavor of the yerba.
4. After a few minutes the water level should go down as it soaks into the yerba leaves. When this happens, carefully top off the gourd again with boiling water.
5. Let the gourd sit for about 12 hours to allow the yerba mate mixture to penetrate the gourd completely.
6. Empty and rinse the gourd with hot tap water.
7. Scrape the inside again (see step one).
8. Rinse with clean hot tap water and dry quickly and completely (see care instructions).

Caring For Your Gourd

Following a timely cleaning and drying routine after each use, storing your mate in a dry location, and inspecting the gourd prior to each use, should keep your gourd clean.

1. Immediately after each use, empty the gourd of yerba and rinse the gourd with clean clean tap water (if you use hot tap water it will help it dry faster).
2. Hand dry the gourd with a clean towel. (A towel will not completely dry the gourd but helps removes the excess water so the gourd dries faster). Prompt and complete drying is necessary to prevent mold growth.
3. Place the gourd upside down on a rack in a dry location and allow it to dry completely. It may be necessary to dry the gourd near some source of dry heat like a home heat radiator. However, be careful not to place the gourd near a flame or where it could catch fire – the gourd is flammable!
4. When your gourd is dry, store your gourd right-side-up in a well ventilated area. We recommend storing it near a window where sunlight can enter the gourd to help prevent mold or mildew.
5. Always inspect the gourd before each use to make sure your gourd is clean.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy fall decorating project, here is an idea that we just love.

Simply take your small, fresh ornamental gourds and pumpkins and spray paint them different metallic colors of your choosing. We love the look of gold and a taupe-silver together.

You can display these sophisticated beauties in so many ways! Group them together as shown on a cake stand for a gorgeous, simple centerpiece, or display them in a large bowl mixed with pinecones, twigs, and other fall elements.

metallic gourd centerpiece

You can also take this technique and apply it to dried gourds for an arrangement that will last from year to year.

Click to purchase this raw, cleaned gourd

2 inch bottle gourds (shown above) would make  for a lovely arrangement. Mix the dried gourds in with the fresh gourds and pumpkins for an interesting, fall display.

This year, along with your typical Jack O’Lantern pumpkin carving, try these creative decorating ideas! Don’t forget to stop by Meadowbrooke Gourds’ pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkins on Tuesday – Saturday from 10am -4pm. We have many shapes and sizes to choose from!

Make Pumpkin Porcupines: 

photo courtesy marthastewart.com

This project from marthastewart.com is simple and adorable! Use big pumpkins for the porcupines’ bodies, and attach the heads with toothpicks. To create quills, push white holiday lights through drilled holes that are slightly smaller than the lights.

Entertain with a Pumpkin Party Cooler:

photo courtesy marthastewart.com

Also, courtesy of Martha Stewart, this pumpkin cooler is sure to wow your guests this fall! Click here for the entire project instructions.

A No-Carving Decorating Technique: 

photo courtesy of familycircle.com

We just love this creative *No Carving Necessary* pumpkin decorating idea from FamilyCircle.com . Simple dry fall leaves and glue them to your pumpkin! Finish with Mod Podge if you desire.

Please feel free to share your pumpkin decorating ideas! 

We always love reading others ideas for crafting their dried gourds! There are literally endless possibilities. We especially loved this luminary project for fall from Better Homes and Gardens. It is simple, beautiful and sure to give your home a cozy touch. To get started, the article details some tips for drying gourds for those that are growing and drying your own. If you would like to skip that step, Meadowbrooke Gourds offers raw gourds that are already cleaned and dried for you. We have many, many shapes and sizes to choose from and they are available online here.

This project involves wood burning your gourd. We go into more detail about wood burning in a previous blog post. 

From Better Homes and Gardens (bhg.com):

1. Starting with a dried, cleaned gourd you must first cut the gourd. To make cutting the gourds easier and help prevent cracking and breaking, draw the cutting line with a pencil. Using a crafts knife, puncture small slits along the pencil line so it resembles a dotted line. Use the knife to cut between the lines. Smooth out any uneven spots.

2. Using the crafts knife, cut a 3-inch round hole in the bottom of each gourd. Make sure the gourds sit flat. If necessary, slightly shave the bottoms of the gourds so they sit flat.

3. Clean out the inside material.

6. Working in a well-ventilated room or outdoors, use the woodburning tool to burn a circle through the gourd. Burn two more holes to create the three-dot triangular motif.

7. Repeat the burning process around the entire gourd, placing the motifs about 2 inches apart.

8. Paint the gourd with a light coat of raw umber watercolor. Use the brown marker to make stripes on the stems. After the paint dries, spray the gourds with varnish.

9. Place a tea light in a votive cup and slip the gourd over the cup. Make sure the candle’s wick is trimmed short so the flame does not touch the gourd. Never leave burning candles unattended or use a candle without the cup.

These beautiful, fall luminaries are easy to craft! (image by Better Homes and Gardens)

We may be jumping the gun a little bit with this fall-decor themed post, but we just can’t contain ourselves! Fall is our favorite time of the year here at Meadowbrooke Gourds and decorating with fall gourds offers endless inspiration and creativity. Get started now planning your fall parties and decorations. You will be ready when fall is finally here!

These beautiful ideas are from Better Homes and Gardens. They are using fresh, ornamental gourds for their displays, however, we suggest using dried gourds for a display that can be used and changed year after year!

Gourd Place Setting:
Charm your guests with an adorable petite gourd welcoming them to their seat!  Wrap a winding twig around each gourd. Then, attach a ribbon with each guest’s name.

image courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens. (click for original)

We suggest using one of our petite splendor gourds instead. They come packaged in a bag of five and you will receive one each of the following colors: Honey, Nutmeg, Paprika, Pumpkin Spice and Parsley.

Handcrafted Petite Splendor Gourds. (click to purchase online)

Multi-Layered Centerpiece
This centerpiece idea really caught our attention. Pairing gourds with books offers an unexpected table-scape. We love the look of the black with the natural colors of the gourds.

Image courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens. (click for original)

Layer striking black books with colorful dried gourds.  With all the different shapes and sizes available, your centerpiece display will be vibrant and interesting!

Click to Purchase

from realsimple.com

A holiday table centerpiece we found in the November issue of Real Simple magazine uses gilded fruit.  In the magazine, they are in a shallow bowl, but any decorative wood, glass, or – yes – gourd bowl will work just as well.  They refer you to their web site for instructions on how to guild the fruit.  It’s fairly, you guessed it, simple, and yields beautiful results. Here are the steps from the Real Simple website…

1. Clean and dry fruit. If you’re using fresh fruit, the firmer the better. You can get the same look with fake fruit, if you want it to last.

2. With a disposable paintbrush, apply a thin, even coat of water-based gilding adhesive like Rolco Aquasize ($15 for 16 ounces, fineartstore.com). Let dry until tacky (about 15 minutes).

3. Press sheets of faux gold leaf (available at crafts stores) onto the fruit with a soft cotton cloth. Overlap sheets slightly, and remove any loose pieces.

4. To give the fruit an antiqued look, use another soft cotton cloth to apply brown or black shoe polish. Buff to a high shine.

part of our Nature's Centerpiece Collection

While you’re at it, why not gild your dried gourds for a beautiful decoration that will last for years to come?

You can find dried, cleaned raw gourds on our website. Try placing gilded fruit and gourds in one of our gourd bowls. Try filling the bowls with other items, too. Nuts, autumn leaves, and other seasonal items would make a beautiful table scape as well.

Here are some more decorating ideas for your Thanksgiving table.  Most of them are very simple, yet look lovely. Maybe they’ll spark your creativity!  Try variations with any old container you have around, or bowl or vase.  Maybe throw in some nuts,dried fruit, gourds, or arrange autumn leaves around it.  Small dried gourds can be painted (try gilding them!) and used in this same way and they will last for years to come. Be sure to Have fun! We especially love the cute gourd used as a name place card.

marketminila.com

seedaholic.com

viette.com

As a name plate. fotobank.ru

countryliving.com

Some Petite Splendors, shown here in a wooden bowl.

Thanksgiving will soon be here along with the traditions we have all grown to love so much.  Most families have traditions.  They all gather at Aunt Mary’s house, or oyster stuffing is always on the table, or dessert must include both pumpkin and pecan pie, and so on like that.  And you mess with tradition at your own risk.  But sometimes you can tweak it a little, can’t you?  Maybe a sweet potato souffle instead of just candied yams, for instance.  (And just coincidentally, we will be giving you a recipe for that soon.)

Or maybe make the table look just a little different.  You know, get creative with centerpieces, or hostess gifts if Grandma has said, “Don’t bring anything, just yourselves.”   We have a lot that would fit the bill perfectly.  Look at our Small and Petite Splendors, for instance.  Just put them in a vase or wooden bowl and you’ve got a great centerpiece.  In fact,

the petites are small enough to use as favors at each place setting.  That page on our site can also give you ideas on how to create your own decorations, too.

Here's the issue, with pumpkins on the cover.

Here’s another source you might want to check out: This month’s issue of Woman’s Day Magazine. Here are pictures of some of their designs, but you’ll have to buy the magazine to see all of them and get the step-by-step instruction.

Nut Sphere

Indian Corn

Ohmygosh!  We nearly forgot to call your attention to our October Product of the Month!  She’s been on our home page and Facebook, of course, along with all our POTMs, Here’s the link to her.

As with all of our POTMs, Zelda is adorable.  (Although you probably shouldn’t say that to her face.  She prefers to think she’s very scary.)  She started life as a martin gourd, but just look at her now!  She even lights up, and she’s perfect for this Halloween…and for every other Halloween.  Check her out.

Say hi to Zelda the Witch.