![\"Shakey](\"http:\/\/heidiannie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Shakey-cat-007.jpg\")
<\/a> <\/p>\nCynthia and I found a booth at the farmer’s market in Chincoteague that was selling them 3 for $5. So we bought 6! I sanded them down and put a maple stain on them and buffed them up a bit. Except for those warty ones in the back- I’m going to spray paint them silver or gold for the holidays.<\/p>\n
But the big ones have the seeds dried out in the middle of them- so they rattle when you shake them. The one in front is a really good shaker, and I decided to do something special with that one and give it to Aidan as a noisemaker\/rhythm instrument.<\/p>\n
so I painted a cat on it. We saw a whole bunch of cat gourds at the Herb fair last weekend- but they all looked like scary Halloween cats. And I didn’t want one of those cats – I wanted it to look happy when he shakes it silly! I drew up what looked like a kind of happy cat.<\/p>\n He doesn’t look quite as happy as he did on paper.<\/p>\n And I think he will like it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I really like dried gourds. Cynthia and I found a booth at the farmer’s market in Chincoteague that was selling them 3 for $5. So we bought 6! I sanded them down and put a maple stain on them and … Continue reading <\/a> But I wanted it to be cute for him to hold- <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAnd painted it on the gourd with acrylics.<\/p>\n<\/a> But I really like his tiny little body and paws with claws. I think I’m going to paint the rest of the gourd a solid color for better contrast and then braid some dyed raffia into his “tail’ and give him a raffia bow around his skinny little neck.<\/p>\n<\/a> I know it is not a really great cat- I’m not really even a good folk artist. But then again, Aidan isn’t an art critic either.<\/p>\n