Something I've done in the past and enjoyed is making homemade ornaments to gift for the holidays so I did it again this year when money was short and I wanted to make it special. I really like painting blown eggs but something new I came across this year at the farmers market were spinning gourds- super cute little gourds that are very much like bird house gourds. You can spin them like a top, hence the name, and cure them for decorating. I lined the gourds up on a windowsill (out of direct light, it's the window between our living room and the mudroom. I'm not sure what direct light would do to them) near our woodstove and once cured, a few months later, assigned sanding them with super fine sand paper to Jon. A tiny hole drilled through the top for thread and a nice paint job later and viola!

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Cured, sanded and painted gourd without base coat.
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With base coat.
Now the eggs take some prepwork too but it doesn't have to be all trial and error, I'll tell you the easiest method I've found so far for blowing out the insides. First, if you have a super handy husband that happens to have a set of these  http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=picks+tools&hl=en&rlz=1T4SNCA_enUS280US280&prmd=ivns&resnum=15&biw=1417&bih=664&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6149079201643859505&sa=X&ei=I0IaTZKGH8Spngei1s2LDg&ved=0CHUQ8gIwAA# , borrow the little elbow one and a hammer. If your handy hubby doesn't have a set of these, buy one as a stocking stuffer and borrow the little elbow one and a hammer. Or just get yourself a set. Now, with the eggs still in the carton, lightly hammer a little hole in each end of the eggs. Straighten out half of a paperclip, poke it in a hole and stir it about to break up the yolk. Then, aiming over a bowl, use your mouth and literally blow the insides out. Tada! Don't waste the now nearly scrambled eggs! You could also aim over an ice cube tray blowing one egg per cube, freeze and store frozen in a ziplock for later use in baking.
Now, a quick word on eggs. I do not support large egg operations for many reasons so I simply refuse to just go to the store and buy the cheapest eggs to blow. That being said, it would make things simpler. Truly free range, healthy eggs are harder to blow simply because the whites are thicker and the yolks are far superior and hold together much better. The only real problem I ever run into is the little stringy white thing connected to the yolk getting stuck but really, it's a non-issue for me. Whatever type of eggs you use is up to you.


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So, onto decorating! I use multypurpose acrylics, glitter, ribbon, embroidery thread, metalic floss thread and hot glue. I've done snowmen, footballs (with forged autographs shhhhhh), penguins, pointsettias, clauddaughs, Santa's, and many others. This year, I'm trying to teach myself rosemaling. Unfortunately, also this year I'm working with a serious case of tendonitus in, of course, my right hand- because I'm right handed.
I used a cut up and re-taped tp roll for little holders while paint dried and tied the ribbons into bows before hot glueing to the top of the eggs. I also used a pencil to lightly draw out a design before painting some of the more complicated ones.
So here are some of this year's ornaments and I hope they inspire you!

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This is the only egg on which I painted a base coat.
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