I didn’t know that gourds could be painted

October 29th, 2006

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The gourds left over from previous yearsFor years, I have bought gourds as part of my fall decor. And every year, I try to dry those gourds so that I can keep them from year to year. I’ve had one for almost fifteen years.

Those first years of drying were not all that successful – most of the gourds got a fungus and rotted. I few years ago, I read that you have to wash them in a weak bleach solution (mine was like fifteen to one – fifteen parts water to one part bleach) to kill that fungus before it ruins the gourd. Once I started doing that, I was able to save a lot more of them. I found this also worked with those really tiny pumpkins (which are actually a type of gourd), too.

Even though they didn’t rot away, they still did get spots on them. You can see those spots on the picture above (click on the picture to get a bigger view). I recently learned that the gourds can be spray painted and that will preserve them even further. So I sprayed mine gold. That way, I can use them as fall decor right into the winter holidays – just change out what I pair them with. The fall arrangement uses leaves and nuts. The winter one will use pine boughs and pine cones.

Gourds after being painted        Gourds in a basket with Fall leaves

Your Frugal Decorating Diva,

Nancy

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Posted in Baskets, Drieds, Fall Decor, Projects to Make | 4 Comments »

4 Comments to ‘I didn’t know that gourds could be painted’:

  1. martha pittts on 17 Mar 2007 at 6:56 am: 1

    i once had a i call a crooked neck gourd and had my dh to cut a hole out in the center of it and put a small pot inside and grew chives in it. i hung it over my kitchen curtain rod and they thrived. have you ever heard of a dish rag gourd? it is a small gourd and on the inside, after drying, it has a pad like a scouring pad and you can use it just like the ones you buy at the stores!

  2. Daniel on 5 Sep 2007 at 6:29 am: 2

    I couldn’t understand some parts of this article t know that gourds could be painted, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.

  3. Kat on 15 Nov 2007 at 9:31 pm: 3

    In reference to drying- it depends on the species of the gourd… most gourds will rot. (Especially if you purchase the ornamental variety in the grocery store.) A certain type of gourd retain their hard shell after months of drying.. they will still mold… but once they are completely dry you can clean them in a soapy water/bleach solution and paint/carve/cut/ well basically do whatever you would do to wood to them.

    http://www.welburngourdfarm.com/
    This farm is just one of the many that sell dried gourds, if you were interested in using them for craft.

  4. Bulletin News on 20 Nov 2007 at 7:02 pm: 4

    Kewl blog post about t know that gourds could be painted. Thoroughly love this write ups!

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