Making Gorgeous Gourds

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

24 Oct 2008 09:22 PM

If you are on a tight budget this Halloween, but you still want to add some festive touches around your home then forgo purchasing the larger, more expensive pumpkin and opt to buy several gourds or miniature pumpkins. (Wal-Mart is currently selling a netted sack with 10 gourds and mini pumpkins for $2.)

With a few simple steps you can light the way for trick-or-treaters by turning those mini gourds into larger than life candleholders. Another option is to place the gourd candleholders in the middle of your dining room table and surround them with fresh-cut flowers, fall leaves, and small branches to create a unique seasonal centerpiece.

*Note: This is not a project you want to undertake with children.

GOURD CANDLEHOLDERS

Materials:

Assorted gourds, mini squash, or miniature pumpkins

Pumpkin carving tool (this project is made much easier if you have a Dremel hand tool or other smaller saw)

Sharp knife

Votive candles

Directions:

Insert the knife into the center of the gourd near the stem. Gourds are very hard tough so it is important to protect your fingers when first inserting the knife. Wedge the knife back and forth a little until you have a slit of about an inch. Remove the knife.

Insert your Dremel (or other lid-cutter saw) into the slit and gently saw (a consistent sawing motion-up and down-works better than trying to slice the gourd) a circle in the center of the gourd. If you don't have a saw you could use a grapefruit knife and an apple corer to remove the rough sections of the gourd. Basically, you want a hole large enough to hold the votive candle.

Once you have successfully hollowed out an area for the candle drizzle a few drops of candle wax in the hole and insert the candle.

Michele Cheplic writes about red-hot celebrities in POP CULTURE, fiery topics in PARENTS, sizzling recipes in FOOD, calorie burning exercises in FITNESS, and hot new kid-friendly crafts in FUN. Check out all of her articles here.

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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