Gourd Luminaries: Gourds make pretty autumn decorations when dried, painted, and stained. Turn them into luminaries to enhance a holiday mood.
Supplies:
Dried gourds with stems attached
Crafts knife
Straight-sided votive cups
Wood burning tool with a 1/4-inch-diameter round tip
Raw umber watercolor
Paintbrush
Brown marker
Water-based spray varnish
Tea-light candles

Prepare the Gourds:
Make sure the gourds you choose are firm and free of blemishes before purchasing and drying them. Always purchase extra gourds as it's common for 25 percent or more of the gourds to mold during drying. To dry gourds, place freshly picked ones in a warm, dry place that has good air circulation. Check and turn the gourds every week. Drying may take anywhere from a few weeks to several months depending on the size and moisture content of the gourd and the humidity and warmth of your drying area. Once the gourds are dry they will have a paper-like skin that needs to be removed. Soak the gourds in warm water and keep them damp while working at this stage. Using a paring knife or crafts knife, gently scrape the skin from the gourd. Let the gourd dry thoroughly before painting, drawing, or cutting.
Directions for Luminaries:
1. Dry and prepare the gourds as described above.
2. Tip for cutting gourds: To make cutting the gourds easier and help prevent cracking and breaking, draw the cutting line with a pencil. Using a crafts knife, puncture small slits along the pencil line so it resembles a dotted line. Use the knife to cut between the lines. Smooth out any uneven spots.
3. Using the crafts knife, cut a 3-inch round hole in the bottom of each gourd. Make sure the gourds sit flat. If necessary, slightly shave the bottoms of the gourds so they sit flat.
4. Clean out the inside material.
5. Working in a well-ventilated room or outdoors, use the woodburning tool to burn a circle through the gourd. Burn two more holes to create the three-dot triangular motif.
6. Repeat the burning process around the entire gourd, placing the motifs about 2 inches apart.
7. Paint the gourd with a light coat of raw umber watercolor. Use the brown marker to make stripes on the stems. After the paint dries, spray the gourds with varnish.
8. Place a tea light in a votive cup and slip the gourd over the cup. Make sure the candle's wick is trimmed short so the flame does not touch the gourd. Never leave burning candles unattended or use a candle without the cup.

Hands and Feet Turkey Craft: Your child's hands and feet will help make this colorful turkey decoration.

Supplies:
construction paper in brown, 
black, orange, red, yellow , white
scissors 
glue 
wiggle eyes, optional 
Directions:
Make the turkey tail feathers by tracing your child's hand 
on colored paper and cut out 6-8 times in a variety of colors. For the turkey body, trace feet (shoes on) and cut from paper. Glue the two feet together, spreading them slightly apart at the bottom. Glue the "tail feathers" to construction paper overlapping them, to take on the appearance of feathers. Glue the "body" on top. Add a few more hands if you want. Attach wiggle eyes. Cut and glue or draw paper beak,
wattle and feet.