Gourd On, Gourd Warrior, Gourd On!

     Several years ago a friend gave me a plastic milk crate full of gourds.  The gourds were the small ornamental kind and I think that is their only purpose, to be ornamental.  I don't recall why I wanted them, I'm sure I had some grand idea in the back of my brain.  They sat untouched for a long time.

     One October day the grand idea surfaced.  I grabbed the milk crate full of now very dry small ornamental gourds, a few small boxes and set my plan in action.

     I sent the gourds to each of my immediate family members. They received their gourds, according to how many would participate, along with a letter that went something like this:

     You have been chosen to become a Gourd Warrior.  Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to decorate your gourd for Christmas.  All gourds will be shown during our Christmas family gathering.  By choosing this mission, you will be helping to save the world, so gourd on.

     I keep saying I'm done dragging out the Christmas decorations this year, but every time I go to the basement, I walk too close to the stack of boxes that hold treasures of Christmas past.  A particular box caught my eye and when I opened it, I found the fruits of their labor from the Gourd Warrior Challenge.  It had been quite awhile since I had displayed them and as I unwrapped each one, the memory of that hilarious Christmas day came rushing back. 

     I thought you might enjoy the results of the gourd mission:

     My niece and her brother crafted these.  The blue one has Merry Christmas carved in the front.  I will let the viewer figure out which is hers and which one he did.  (He also finished his on the way to our house that morning......actually, that's probably when he started working on it.)

The Star Gourd, compliments of my sister, Blanche.

Mother's.  Oh the things you can do with pink nail polish.

My grand niece, Hannahbanana, we think she was about 10 years old when we did this.  She's 22 now, and yes, I still call her Hannahbanana.

The Snowball, courtesy of my oldest daughter.

Sun & Moon, courtesy of my youngest daughter.

Don't think we named this one, by my oldest granddaughter.

The Hot Air Balloon, courtesy of Gourd Warrior sister Lela.

The Mystery Gourd, no one will lay claim to this.  We have photos, so we will find you.

Mouse in the House.  

     When I unwrapped these, Mouse was in the hot air balloon basket.  Not sure how he got there, but I have super glued him back in his rightful spot.  Oh yeah, that's mine.

     Merry Christmas, hope you enjoyed the show.