With Christmas just around the corner, I have been busy creating lots of crafts to give as gifts. One of the crafts I am working on are Christmas ornaments. The ornaments I am doing are made out of coyote gourds, but they can be made with a round styrofoam ball, or any other round item that you can put a hook into and paint on, so keep this in mind if you do not have a gourd on hand. I know, most of you don't even know what a gourd is. For those who do not know what a gourd is, you can learn all about gourds at http://www.thegourdreserve.com . There you will learn all there is to know about gourds, plus you'll get to see some really awesome gourd art, much better than my little ornaments, LOL

These instructions will refer to a gourd, but you can use any round item that can be painted on.

You will need the following items:

1 - clean round gourd, or other paintable item

1 - color of acrylic paint of your choice, (I like the metallic greens and reds best for Christmas)

Puff paints in an assortment of colors, including white

paint brushes for applying the base coat

drill and small bit the size of the hook screw

wood glue

hook screw, or eye screw

decorative string

First drill a starter hole in the top of the gourd, then put a small amount of glue on the screw, and screw in the eye screw or hook screw whichever you went with into the top of the gourd. If you used an eye screw, then thread your decorative string through and knot it. If you used a hook screw, there is no need for the string, unless you want it for added decoration.

Once that is all done, paint your gourd the color of acrylic paint that you chose, and allow to dry, then paint on a second coat, allow to dry completely. Now we get to have some fun with the puff paints. If you are not used to working with puff paints, use a little on some paper to help get the hang of things. As you can see from the pics, there are any number of things you can put on your gourd with the puff paints. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, etc. The things you can do are unlimited, so have fun with your ornament, be creative, you'll have a blast!

Happy Crafting!

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