Gardens and Gourds - March 2006

I think we will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel and spring will arrive.

Attaching pieces of gourds.

Sometimes you may want to add an extra feature to a gourd project. Say ears for a dog or cat. Here is one way to go about it.

Here is a picture of the gourd ready to be worked on.

It is going to be a bear and I want to add some ears.

I found a piece of scrap and traced my ear design on it.

After cutting them out with my mini-jigsaw I marked the area of the gourd where they were to be placed.

I don't do any special measuring techniques. Just eyeball it.

After I had my placings marked I used my dremel with a flexable shaft to grind out the area where the ear would fit into.

This will help with the sturdiness of the ears.

I check the pieces for fit periodically.

When you have the spots ready for the ears fill them with wood glue. I like to use the Elmers gel formula. It doesn't run and the ears stay in place while the glue dries.

When the glue has dried I use woodfiller to create a seamless fit.

Apply the filler and use a wet cotton swab to smooth it out. Saves on the sanding later. See pictures below.

When the filler has dried, sand it smooth and you are all set to paint your bear. The flexible sanding sponges work great.

This bear, ready to be painted, is available for sale along with a dog and cat.

You can find them plus other cut gourds ready to paint here.

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