Most u-pick pumpkin patches are closed for the season, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your hands on gourds to decorate your home for Turkey Day. In fact, now is the time to stock up on the adorable little fruits. Mid-November is typically when grocery and discount retailers place gourds on sale. Stores that loaded up on mini pumpkins and whimsically-shaped gourds for the Halloween rush are now trying to unload whatever is left before Thanksgiving rolls around.
If you are planning to have a bunch of kids over for Turkey Day, consider filling your cart up with plenty of gourds. Then, let your pint-sized guests have a blast creating snowmen out of the small ornamental pumpkins. You can embellish the little gourd people with natural or commercial trimmings, such as: pine cones, leaves, seeds, beans, peanut shells, nuts, pine needles, corn kernels, glitter, buttons, stickers and sequins. You will also need glue or glue dots. For heavier items, a hot glue gun works better, though it’s important to have a responsible adult operate the tool rather than a child.
Once you’ve gathered your supplies, experiment with the body. You could stack two, three or four different sized gourds on top of each other to make gourd people of varied heights. Next, play around with different embellishments to give each creation a unique personality. For example, you could use a corn kernel for a nose, pine needles for hair, berries for eyes and sticks for arms. Have the kids flex their creative muscle to bring their gourds to life. Items such as sequins, glitter and buttons can be used to further embellish the little guys, though if you are short on cash, you might consider sticking with natural products that can be found in your own backyard.
Finally, to get the gourd people to stand on their own, glue them together or connect them with toothpicks or trimmed skewers. Depending on how hard the exterior of the gourds are, you could use a small nail to make pilot holes, and then insert the toothpicks or skewers. Your little group of gourd folk will last about three weeks if you keep them in a cool, dry spot.
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