Winter Crafting from the Garden

I know most of you are probably whining about the cold weather that has finally come to this little corner of the world, but I am thrilled.  For one, I do so love winter in every way . . . well except for the slushy stuff.  But more than that, we need the ground to freeze.  

Winter wasn't so great last year in that the ground never froze.  That's why I had so many pest issues.  They were able to survive the winter.  Hopefully, this year will be different.  This first real cold snap is a great start, and the garden is ready for it.

Plastic and old plants removed,
Ground ready for the freeze.

The seed catalogs have started arriving.  I'm getting itchy to start things, but I want to plan out the garden a little better this year. 

While I'm waiting start digging in the dirt, I can share some of my garden crafts with you.  Most are gourds, but there are a few that use other products from the Baker Homestead.

This little snowman was made from Jack-B-Littles.  After painting them, I used a hot-glue gun to hold them together.  The hat, nose, and arms were hot-glued on, as well.  I was ecstatic at the way he turned out, and I hoped he would last until Christmas.  A few days before, he started getting squishy in spots.  Then, when we came home from the festivities Christmas day, he had melted from the windowsill to the counter below.  But he made it!

(I am looking into methods for preserving Jack-B-Littles. They are great for crafts.)

Santa Gourd was easy enough, a fun and quick project.  His hat is red Gourd Master ink dye.  I used a stained piece of felt to rosy up his cheeks and nose.  I think it's obvious what I used for his beard and the fuzz on his hat.  Next time, I'll use something different for his beard, but it does look better in person than on camera.









I have a few itty-bitty gourds from this year's crop, so instead of going out and paying ten to fifteen dollars on a new ornament for this year, I decided to make one . . . from a gourd.  This tiny guy took practically no time to make.  In fact, the drying took longer than anything else.  I'll probably hand-number the year on future ornaments.  That way, I can sell them at any time and just add the year for the buyer.

What do you think?  Would you buy any of these crafts for your own home decorating?