A couple of years ago I planted what I thought was a
variety of small gourds, intending to use them in craft projects. I didn’t get
the variety I had hoped for but harvested hundreds of small egg shaped gourds.
I shared some with my neighbor, gave some to an artist friend and put the rest
on a drying screen over my potting bench.
Last year more plants sprouted from the previous year and I added maybe
50 more to the stash on the drying screen. I used some for ornaments at
Christmas, but there were still about 100 left. Last week I took them down from
the screen, placing them in a basket which I left on the potting bench. To my
surprise when I went to retrieve them, the basket was empty! No gourds in
sight. I did see some fragments around the garden. I can only surmise, a
critter made off with my gourd stash!
I did have a few in the studio from which I could try a couple of Easter egg techniques.
Inspired by a Pinterest post, I decoupaged one little
gourd with strips from an old French dictionary using gel medium. After it dried I added butterflies and foliage from the top layer of a napkin and sealed it with another layer of gel medium.
These are not gourd eggs, but cheap, plastic eggs from
the Dollar Store. When I saw Tim Holtz demonstrate this technique on YouTube, I
had to try it! Using alcohol ink with the ink applicator tool, I just dabbed
the colors on the plastic egg. You should watch the video to see just how easy
this is.
I hope everyone has a bright and happy Easter. If my neighbors find my gourd eggs hidden in their yard, can we assume the critter was the Easter Bunny?
