How to Paint a Friendly Ghost Gourd!

This little spooky ghost couldn't harm a fly, much less the creepy jack-o-lantern it has decided
to make a home with...

       Gourds come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and if you are fortunate enough to find a pumpkin patch during the month of October that sells dried gourds, you can make a fun painted Halloween character on one of these that won't collapse and rot at the end of the season like a pumpkin! 

       Certainly ghosts are popular characters around the Autumn holidays... I painted this friendly ghost as a simple gourd ghost type that any small child might like to paint. The upper half is painted white and the lower orange, if it is not already that color to begin with. This particular gourd was russety orange in the beginning so I had even less work to do in order to turn him into a grinning jack-o-lantern.

       Not all gourds are sold as dried gourds for display. Children may use gourds to paint even when these have not been dried and properly polished for crafts. They will have just as much fun painting them for a Halloween party. However, these may not last till next year. 

       Set them aside in a dry, cool, dark room to see if these will survive without mold. Normally, it takes many months to cure gourds. To know if your gourd is properly dry it should be very light weight and it should make a rattling noise when you shake it. This is because the seeds inside have dried out as well and are hitting the inner walls of the gourd as you disturb them with a shake.

See how I used a white colored 
pencil to mark where I would
paint on the dried gourd.

Supply List:

• a dried gourd with a long narrow extended top half and a low bulbous bottom half
• acrylic paints
• one permanent ink marker
• one white waxy pencil
• Mod Podge

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First, select a gourd you think will make a proper ghost seated on top or standing above or ascending out from a jack-o-lantern beneath it. This shape as is shown on this post is perhaps one of the most common ones people will discover on a table near a pumpkin patch. 
2. It may help greatly to draw a face on the surface of your gourd using something like a white wax colored pencil. The mistakes may be easily rubbed off if needed and the marks left can be painted over with acrylics. If you decide that you enjoy this craft; your ability to paint without pencil marks will improve over time and you will be able to make decisions without hesitation with the use of a paint brush only.
3. It helps to turn the gourd around, over and upside down to get a feel of how to paint it. The example give here, however, is one that young students will have immediate success with and may be used as a prototype for their first painting experience. It is important to build confidence in little artists by giving them playful opportunities in painting that they can admire small accomplishments as they progress over time.
4. Halfway down the gourd at the midpoint where the bulbous part of the gourd begins to expand, mark the flowing hem of the ghost's gown with a wavy line all around the circumference of the outside surface.
5. Paint the lower half of the gourd orange if needed.
6. Then turn the gourd around to find the largest wide bulge of the gourd to draw on a spooky, happy or sad jack-o-lantern expression. I then colored in the shapes of the jack-o-lantern using a permanent black ink marker. But, you can use paint just as easily for this step if you don't want your little ones running around with black marks on furniture and permanent damage to clothing!
7. Next paint the ghost shape white and the holes in his or her eye sockets black and add even more facial details if your wish.
8. Once the surface decorations have dried, brush on a layer or two of Mod Podge to protect the surface paint.

Make More Spooky Halloween Crafts:

• Make and play Halloween match-ups game - "Feelings Faces"
• Learn to count with pumpkin seed books - two sample books: one for fall and the other for Halloween