Fall Crafts with Gourds
I love gourds… warts and all! These colorful non-edibles are grown in my garden just for fall along with many other fall ornamentals. They look great stuffed into a basket, spilling out of a bucket, and even planted up! Check out these ideas and get your gourd on!
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A gourd-eous centerpiece for your fall table is super easy to make… sure pumpkins look great too, but why not up the anti and create a masterpiece that will surely have you guests talking.
Simply choose the largest gourd you can find. Taves Family Farm and Apple Barn in Abbotsford BC is one of my favorite places to go in the fall for all their heirloom pumpkins and gourds.
Cut out a large enough potting hole and remove the seeds and innards. This Fiskar’s tool does it all! Snip, slice, saw and cut, the Garden Multi-Snip has a serrated edge on one side, a razor sharp edge on the other and cuts like a pair of snips for multiple jobs in the garden all in one handy tool! It totally came in handy for this fall harvest project.
Add soil and some favorite fall plants. Stick a skewer through the bottom of a smaller gourd and it becomes the perfect accent pick for your arrangement. This planter will last about a week, so make it just a few days before your holiday feast if you plan to use it as a centerpiece. It will last for several weeks if you use it in an outdoor vignette, the cooler temps prevent the gourd from breaking down.
Those lovely fall mums were supplied by Milner Village Garden Centre… they grow 1000’s of them and it is the only place I get my fall mums from every year. Want to know how to select and care for them? Check out this very informative post here: How to care for Fall Mums
Try having fun with crookneck gourds and make them into hanging planters! So adorable hanging on a trellis for a fun fall decor accent.
These gourds have tough skin so make sure you use a good sharp cutting tool to get through them and be careful!
My favorite gourd project this fall are definitely these stacked Gourd Topiaries. How fun are these! Use larger gourds in all shapes and colors for a front door topiary by simply placing a stake in the center of the pot and pushing it through your gourds.
I drilled a hole into a piece of scrap wood, shoved in the stake, then buried it with rocks in a pot to make it stable.
Once that was done, cut off all the stems of the gourds, but leave the one meant for the top on. Drill holes through the gourds and slip them on the stake.
When your ready to add the last one, cut the stake long enough to support it, but not stick through. PowerGear 2 pruners by Fiskars has 3x more power to cut through tough stems and twigs with the added gears. No more squeezing to get through a branch!
I added some moss to cushion the bottom and hide the rocks, but you could use some straw or burlap instead.
For table top and mantel topiaries, just do a smaller version using the same method of securing a stake and slipping them on. Do different heights and combinations and group them together in a vignette or tablescape.
If you are creating an outdoor fall vignette, use those obelisks from summer to create a gourd tower…
Have fun making these fall gourd crafts and if you happen to live in the Langley area, check out my event schedule to come and see me do these and other fun fall crafts live!
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