Gourd Faery House

Gourd Faery House

I found a few gourds at a yard sale, each one only $1 so I picked out ten of them. This is one of those gourds that I turned into a Faery House for my friend Amber Wolf.

Materials:

Gourd

Leaves - whole & crushed

Bark pieces

Pebbles & Stones

Shell bits

Beads & baubles of all kinds

Pine seeds

Herbs for your purpose (I used Basil, Cedar bark, Cherry Plum leaves, Dill seeds)

Old and/or unused jewelry pieces

Fish tank floor beads

Hot glue gun & sticks

Herbs & Stones used & their meanings:

Basil: Abundance, Fortune, Happiness, Harmony, Health, House blessing, Love, Luck, Mend quarrels, Peace, Prosperity, Protection, Relationship healing, Temper soothing, Wealth

Cedar bark: "Tree of Life", Abundance, Fortune, Health, Love, Luck, Money, Prosperity, Protection, Wealth

Cherry Plum leaves: Cheer, Health, Love

Dill seeds: Abundance, Love, Luck, Money, Prosperity, Protection

Pine seeds: Abundance, Fortune, Health, Love, Money, Prosperity, Protection

Shells: Achievement, Affluence, Blessings, Fortune

Turquoise: Communication, Empathy, Honesty, Master healer, Negativity repelling, Peace, Positive thinking, Protection, Serenity, Understanding, Wisdom

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Instructions:

Lay out all of the materials so you can see everything.

If you need to, draw lightly in pencil, the general placement of each of the house's elements. 

Begin with the stone "wall" around the base, this way you can easily hold the gourd by the top or lay it over on its side if needed. If you do the top first you won't be able to do the stone wall very easily and may mess up what you did on the top. So, it's best to start at the bottom first.

Next, I added the chimney stones.

Then the fish tank floor beads were added for the "windows" and next came the front door. This was strips of cedar bark laid close together. One piece had a tiny hole in it, inside which I glued a pink stone bead for the doorknob.

After the windows & door came the roof. This is made from the seeds of a pine cone. Each one was glued on individually, then the row above was shifted over slightly so as to give the effect of shingles.

Next came the fun part - adding all the tidbits and details to bring it to life! I had an old dragonfly pin that I attached to the door, and beads of hot glue were added around the chimney stones and crushed leaves added to make it look mossy and "old".

Dabs of hot glue on the roof "tiles" were sprinkled with crushed leaves and dill seeds.

The following pictures show the finished Gourd Faery House from all sides.

I found a little teapot charm, cut off the loop that it hung from and then hot glued it to the left of the door. A Faery needs refreshment, you know! The "windows" each have Cherry Plum leaf awnings.

I added turquoise beads here and there for added color. Crushed leaves were poured over the hot glue for a mossy effect around the stones as well as around the house's bell top surface. There is an amber colored heart charm that hangs from the chimney.

There are cut shell "flower boxes" on the back "windows" that each have a cut shell bird sitting on them. There are also birds on the roof top.

There is a scarab bead because you can't live in the forest and not have bugs!

So that is the Gourd Faery House! And I do believe that Amber Wolf feels that the Fae have taken up residence and are quite happy!

Welcome little Fae,

Please won't you come & stay?

This little house is yours to fill,

Joy & happiness to instill!