Annie Lang's Blog!

It's time to break out the brushes and get this year's ornaments ready for Holiday annual decorating here that begins the day after Thanksgiving!  Being naturally attracted to more "out of the box" surfaces to paint, I stumbled on these adorable little mini gourd ornaments that will be simply perfect for my small Christmas tree display.  Each one of these real gourds is unique and on average range in size from 1.25" to 2".  These along with many other varieties of Amish family farm grown gourds from Pennsylvania Dutch Country, in Lancaster County are available for sale through a co-op venture you can find online at amishgourds.com    I found that permanent marker brushes and pens were ideal for turning these mini gourd ornaments into tiny birdhouses.  Gourds are naturally porous so they really absorb the color well.  Start with lighter colors and then gradually work in the darker colors for best results.  If you want to add outlining, it's easily done u

Spring will be here soon so now is the perfect time to get ready for the return of our fine feathered friends!  I made my first gourd birdhouse in 2017 and it's time to replace it with a newer model.  I'm pleased it held up this long under the harsh winter and summer weather events we've experienced here in Michigan over the past few years and I expect it will be the same for this new gourd.  Unlike many of the wooden birdhouses I've had, the original gourd birdhouse has been continually occupied by a variety of nesting bird families for the last four years.  I can hardly wait for the snow to melt so I can hang my new one up amid the blossoming tree branches.  I wasn't able to locate a dried gourd locally, but was fortunate to find one to order online from Gourdaments  .  I hope you enjoy and happy birdwatching! UPDATE It only took a few days after hanging the new gourd birdhouse before a new family of birds began using it!  Within the next several weeks, the tree w