Gourd-a-licious Christmas

I used to love painting on gourds.  I'm ashamed to admit I have closets full of them (still) and keep saying I'm going to paint them 'someday'... can anyone tell me when 'someday' is???  My husband asks (occasionally)if I want to give them away...well, I can't bear to part with them so he'll just have to cope {smiling}.  Years ago when I was selling my hand painted goodies on eBay, I was asked to do several custom pieces.  The cats on one gourd were painted to match her requests... the others' were 'generic'.  My addiction these days is for card making... but these were fun to 'dust off' and look at again.  Maybe, just maybe, this year when my cards are done, etc etc, I'll paint some for last minute gifts.  They are very easy to work with.  Clean the gourd at the sink with a scrubber sponge and after the gourd has dried I would paint it white (as a base coat)so my colors would be vibrant.  Then sketch your design and paint away... gourds have a lot of "tooth" so they're a breeze to paint on.  Have fun painting, let them dry thoroughly overnight,  apply two coats of a waterbased acrylic sealer and you have a cute decoration that will last forever.  Here are a few to look at...