Kiki playing "Hide and Seek" in the Fall decorations!
The cute part about her Pumpkin Lamp is that her kitty-cat, Kiki obviously loves the thing! According to Sweet Daughter-in-law, Kiki has been sitting by the gourds for quite some time. She looks right at home in the picture..almost as if she is part of the decoration! Ms. Put, my cat, has nothing to do with the lamp in the Little Bayou House. She does not mind that I decorate as long as I do not put anything on her favorite chair. So my Pumpkin Lamp sits in the corner with no cat admiring it.
The Pumpkin Lamp lit at the Little Bayou House!
For any who would like to make their own Pumpkin Lamp, you will need to have a nice, large, round gourd..it does not matter if it has a neck or not. You will also need a few small gourds for the base. These can be any shape or size..pick your favorites. Paint the large gourd to resemble a pumpkin. I turned mine upside-down. The neck of the gourd became the bottom of the pumpkin. The neck will be hidden a bit later so don't worry if it looks a bit strange. Paint the small gourds to look like..well..gourds! For a base, I used a found piece of 2 x 6 board. I drilled a 1 inch diameter hole in the center of the board and inserted a 1 inch dowel that was about 3 feet long. Make sure the dowel fits snugly as this will hold the entire lamp together. After securing the dowel, make a hole in the top (neck) of the gourd (pumpkin) that will slip over the dowel. Turn the gourd upside-down and poke the dowel into the hole in the neck of the gourd. Secure this with a bit of glue. It will sort of look like a big, orange lollipop at this point! To cover the board, I used some Spanish Moss but you can use whatever appeals to you. The moss just seemed to be a natural choice. Sort of plop and glue that around the board and then glue the smaller gourds on top of the moss. You will need a stem for your pumpkin. I went out and trimmed a piece of my Azalea bush! I just whacked off a piece of a dead limb about two inches long. This was glued on the top of the pumpkin..which actually is the bottom of the large gourd! (Remember..we turned it upside-down!) As the Fall leaves cascading down the dowel, I used a small artificial garland. To make it hold its shape, I added a piece of wire. To this, I also added the lights. This is just a short string of white Christmas lights. So..wire, garland and lights are tacked to the board base and spiraled up the dowel to the pumpkin. To hide the neck of the upside-down pumpkin gourd, a huge bow made from Fall ribbon is attached. Tie the ribbon around the neck of the gourd..wrapping it twice if necessary to hide the neck. Now you are all finished except for adding a few random silk leaves to the moss! Plug in your lamp and enjoy! This looks especially festive on a porch next to the doorway. It is a bright and happy greeting for any guests who may come calling! Now it is up to you to serve them a cup of mulled apple cider and a slice of pumpkin pie! Happy Fall!
