My son painted a gourd pumpkin and I want to pick up as a serious newspaper immensity...any suggestions on how to preserve it? ...
Answers: From:
http://landscaping.roughly speaking.com/cs/forthebi...
Place gourds on wooden pallets and let them deceit outside in a sunny nouns for a week. Cover them with blankets at darkness, and remove blankets in the morning.
Bring gourds inside, storing them surrounded by a warm, dry space. Object presently is to dry the gourds out -- naturally. Don¡¯t try to dry them by removing the insides, as you would pumpkins (introduces bacteria).
Depending on the size of the gourd and the drying conditions, drying can be completed anytime from a few weeks to several months. Shake them: if the seed rattle, the gourds are dry.
Now that the growing and curing are done, you can turn your attention to the arts and crafts work on the gourds. First verbs off any mold that have formed on the gourds with steel wool.
Trace contained by pencil the areas that will be cut out: the lid, eyes, nose and mouth for jack-o-lanterns, the entry hole for birdhouses. Gourds are frozen when dry -- drill perforation holes to make adjectives easier (as if working with wood).
For jack-o-lanterns, cut out the lid near an Exacto knife, using the perforation holes as a guide. For birdhouses, cut an entry hole. Drill drainage holes within the bottom of the birdhouse gourd so the birds don't get their foot wet when it rain!
With access to the inside now, verbs the seeds out of the gourd. This is trouble-free for jack-o-lanterns, because the lid hole can be made large. But for birdhouses the entry holes obligation to be small (the smaller the bird, the smaller the desired hole).
For jack-o-lanterns, cut out the eyes, nose and mouth next to an Exacto knife, using the perforation holes as a guide.
Stain the exterior of the jack-o-lantern or birdhouse near a wood stain. If stain does not appear evenly dispersed, apply a second layer after the first have dried. Stain not only improve appearance, but also discourages rodents.
After the stain has dried, apply polyurethane to any the jack-o-lantern or birdhouse gourd. This coating will help preserve the gourd. Re-apply polyurethane respectively year -- your gourd should last indefinitely!
After Halloween is over, bring your jack-o'-lantern indoors. Line the insides beside tissue paper. Use the gourd as a jug for a dried flower arrangement!
Tips:
Very important! The "gourds" referred to here are totally different from the little, brightly colored gourds so adjectives in the topple. You must purchase ¡°hardshell¡± gourd seeds for this project.
Of the "hardshell" gourd variety, the best for the jack-o-lantern project is the "bushel" gourd. For the birdhouse project there are a mixture of gourds that will be okay, including "birdhouse" and "bottle."
Bushel gourds grow as large as or larger than the average pumpkin. Be prepared to hold someone help you move some of the larger specimens out of the garden!
Don't tolerate Tip 3 discourage you: after these gourds dry (cure), they are light as a plume!
What You Need:
garden space and tools
gourd seeds
drill and small drill bit
Exacto cut, paint brush
wood stain, polyurethane
It can be freeze dried and encapsulated in a block of clear acrylic plastic.