tea is for Tabor : Decorated Gourds (for the fall)

Simply Charming:

Needless to say, now that we have finished Game of Thrones... I've got a little extra time on my hands. I try not to add up the hours I've sat on my couch watching HBO Go. Instead of thinking about the Red Wedding, I think of little things I can do around my house to keep me occupied.

If you know my family at all... well if you know my dad at all, you know he likes to collect things. He has about 1,000+ square feet of things he has collected. And they just sit. So this past weekend, I took it upon myself to give some of these knickknacks a space of their own.

My dad had great dried up gourds, everywhere. I don't know how many years these gourds have been sitting. But they were great. (And free for me!) According to my mother, to dry a gourd you just need to sit it inside and it will dry up naturally. How odd.

Last night was a perfect night to sit outside and craft. Matt had his hookah going and the pups were at our feet. Not to mention with fall weather calls for a fall (ish) craft.

Ingredients for decorated gourds:

Dried up gourds
Shellack
Old paint brush (I threw mine away at the end)
Dish soap
Old rag
Embroidery Thread
Scissors

First and foremost, you have to pick your gourd. I chose mine based on shape and color. I liked the spotting and curves of my gourds.

Since my gourds had been sitting in a shed for probably about 12 years, I decided to lightly clean them. Although, this is a good idea for anyone who is thinking about doing this project. I dampend wash rag and applied a bit of dish soap to the rag. Once the gourd was clean, I just let it air dry.

To help preserve the gourd, I applied a thin layer of shellack. When the shellack was tacky but almost dry, I started with the embroidery thread. This keeps the start spot in place. No knots needed.

When I was done with one color, I just tied a small knot to the next color! You could just apply some more shellack to start a new color, but I sort of liked the knotted look.