Cultivating Autumn Arrangements

This project has already failed twice.  TWICE!  

Originally, I wanted to create a sustainable gazing ball that could be used for many seasons.  A beautiful glass gazing ball has been purchased for my garden every year and every year something happens to break it.  There has to be a better way!  

Sum of Their Stories * Embroidered Sweater Bag Upcycle

Our Good Life * Transforming a Mason Jar to a Solar Light

Purple Hues and Me * Busted Canvas on Bottle Transformation

Christine's Crafts * Upcycled Denim Jacket

Modern on Monticello * From Truck Suspension to Bird Feeder

Vicky Myers Creations * Cover a Branded Bag Logo

Decor Craft Design * Transform Vintage Powder Tin into Jewelry Box

Cultivating Autumn Arrangements

My sustainable project begins in my garden.  I love growing and decorating gourds.  Seeds for them can be found for all sorts of shapes and sizes.

My old blog, Stone Cottage Adventures has several posts about gourds, but this blog only has one so far.  Here it is:  Growing a Garden Gnome

They are pretty planted as annual vines with large leaves and gold blossoms whether they produce fruit or not.

Drying gourds takes time and some space.  Here are a few tips:

Leave gourds on their vine until stems are yellow.  For my area, that's late Autumn to early Winter.

Once harvested, get them somewhere out of the weather.  We have an old milk barn, so I use one of the empty stalls.  Place the gourds on a dry surface, not on the ground, with as much ventilation as possible.  Spread out the gourds, not touching one another.  Leave until Spring, turning occasionally.

  Once dried, they are stored in empty hanging baskets near the ceiling of my greenhouse.  If kept dry, they will last for years.  These may be from 2015 or 2018 or both.  I'm really not sure.

Here's a dusty one right out of my greenhouse.  The papery outer skin is completely normal and easily removed.  Simply soak the gourd in soapy water overnight, then scrub with a brush.

Lovely, huh?  I want to transform this pretty gourd into a gazing ball.

Here's where things start to go wrong.  My vision was to use leather dye to stain my gazing ball a dark, vibrant green.  After multiple coats, it was the most horrid shade of brown.  'So ugly.  Frustrated, I read the label of the leather dye, learning it had expired several years ago.  Everything has a shelf life. 

  Aaaarrrgh! 

No photos were taken of that disaster.  Quite a bit of time passed while I was pouting.

Next attempt was soft blue spray paint.  After one coat was applied, the can was empty.  That nasty, expired, brown dye seeped through, but I didn't completely hate it.  Most people will be seeing it from the street anyway.

The gourd was placed on this gazing ball stand, which is about three feet tall.  The proportions were all wrong with the stand being way too big for this sustainable gazing ball.  

Aaaarrrgh!

Second fail.  No photos.  I went back to pouting.  Time passed.

While looking for something else in my greenhouse, I stumbled across this forgotten gem and gave it a try.

The sustainable gazing ball is still too small for its stand, but that's not so bad.  I'll be using this for height when I jumble together my Autumn Arrangements.  Hopefully, our local vendors will have the bumpy gray pumpkins and some of the softer orange ones.  Although I do love the traditional bright orange pumpkins, pastels feel right for this year.  Who knows?  I may just play with more of my gourds!

Please tell me.  Have your attempts at a project ever failed TWICE?