The Gourd Place

The Gourd Place A North Georgia delight featuring educational nature displays as well as gourd art and pottery handmade on site Buildings are handicap-accessible.

Come tour our gourd museum, retail shops, and beautiful grounds. Located five miles from Helen in the mountains of beautiful northeast Georgia, we're the oldest retail gourdcrafting business in the United States! It was 1976 when Priscilla Wilson first began experimenting with gourds and we began selling her wares at craft fairs. At that time we weren’t aware that any other gourd artists existed!

Since then Priscilla has made decorative containers carved with wildflower designs, planters, rolling toys, calligraphy gourds, pyrography, ornaments, dolls, natural utensils, puzzles, drums, gourdhead masks, and just about anything else one can imagine. Our corporation name is Gourdcraft Originals, Inc. We call it the gourd life. To us this phrase has come to mean more than just working with gourds; it means being open to the unpredictable movement of the Creative Force in our lives. Thus our dream of developing the definitive gourd shop has expanded over the years to include more of Priscilla’s efforts in collaboration with nature: Gourd Impressions© (patented stoneware pottery molded in gourds); Sticks and Stone-wear© (natural material jewelry); Gword-play© (notecards and more featuring gourdhead characters); and textiles printed with her original wildflower designs. Both Priscilla and Janice, who manages the business and decorates our spaces, were teachers in the past; so we like to incorporate an educational component into everything we do! Learn more in our memoir, Gourd Girls!

I'm very sorry to say this, but for several reasons I won't be continuing to post on Facebook. PLEASE, if you've enjoyed...
02/03/2023

I'm very sorry to say this, but for several reasons I won't be continuing to post on Facebook. PLEASE, if you've enjoyed my postings and want to receive a quarterly email with updates, gourd jokes, lore, whatever, send me an email at [email protected] !

Below is our annual Groundhogs' Day email:

Dear Friends,

Both Gourdtrude and I have been uncharacteristically quiet lately, but Groundhog's Day always seems to bring us out.

She wants you to NOTICE that she has grown a much more luxurious coat than she had this time last year, probably thanks to the major cold snap we had here at The Gourd Place in December. Gourdtrude DID NOT see her shadow today so is calling for an early spring. (Notice she ALWAYS says that? Well, ok, she works in PR for The Gourd Place - but it truly IS cloudy here today.)

Gourdtrude also wants you to know that she is still campaigning for more media attention to be given to female groundhogs. To that end, she is joining forces with Punxsutawney PHYLLIS, who has been trying to get the word out since the 1800s that her name isn't PHIL!

As for us humans, Charlie and I are slowly making progress toward being prepared for your visits in the spring, especially for celebrating the SEASONAL RETURN OF THE LUMINARIES to The Gourd Place! They have been sorely missed since last fall when most migrated south to points unknown, leaving only a few stragglers behind with us. When we get information about the ETA of these magical luminaries, we will pass it along. At this point we don't know whether they'll be landing here in one great flock or trickling in (slip-casters, please excuse the pun); but we're making some porcelain companions that will be waiting for them when they arrive.

Remember to contact us before planning a visit; we're open only by appointment!

In the meantime, we think of you with gratitude in our earthbound hearts.

Best regourds,

Priscilla Wilson (and my retired wife/editor, Janice Lymburner)

www.gourdplace.com

12/29/2022

Next year remains a mystery for all of us! I'm thankful to dwell in possibility with you.

2022: Let's Stop Fighting Like Cats and Dogs! Can't we all just gourd along???Most anyone who sees this page has heard a...
12/28/2022

2022: Let's Stop Fighting Like Cats and Dogs! Can't we all just gourd along???

Most anyone who sees this page has heard all about this year's theme; let's just hope that most people in our country are finally sufficiently tired of fighting.

2021: The Wisdom of FoolishnessI started making Gourd Guys in the mid-1980s. I still like making them - sewing clothes f...
12/27/2022

2021: The Wisdom of Foolishness

I started making Gourd Guys in the mid-1980s. I still like making them - sewing clothes for them and putting together their outfits. It's like playing with dolls. I had always thought they'd make neat ornaments since they can hang on the tree by their hands and feet with magnets inside. So when I decided on this theme, gourd guys - already a symbol of foolishness - were a natural. Of course I wanted these to be special and different - thus the jester hats (the hard part), choice of outfits, and the way the faces were done. For the message I found the perfect quote from Chinese philosopher Lin Yutang.

2020: Simple GiftsThe first year of the pandemic had us all feeling humble and thankful, as the handout said. The orname...
12/26/2022

2020: Simple Gifts
The first year of the pandemic had us all feeling humble and thankful, as the handout said. The ornaments were more difficult to create than the eye would make you think because of the bows and the anchoring of them on the gourds. They had gift tags attached with (I think) the words "A SIMPLE GIFT."

12/25/2022

Sorry, the double post happened because I had pre-scheduled it and then re-created it when (I thought) it didn't appear on schedule!

2019: Des Colores!I learned this Spanish song at Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church and love, love, loved i...
12/25/2022

2019: Des Colores!

I learned this Spanish song at Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church and love, love, loved it. From the time I chose the theme, the song played in my head. Here's a link if you want to hear it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlVyfjm3h4M

I had some failed first attempts to achieve the look I wanted with colored tissue paper on the gourds but was ultimately happy with the way they turned out. Patty Workman, Linda Crittenden, and Charlie Williams helped me do this job. We made a party of it.

2019: Des ColoresI became familiar with this song at Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church in nearby Dahlonega...
12/25/2022

2019: Des Colores

I became familiar with this song at Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church in nearby Dahlonega and love, love, loved it. When I was considering it for theme, I listened to a dozen versions on Youtube and was especially inspired by a community chorus comprised of people of all ages and colors. Along with Linda Crittenden, Patty Workman, and Charlie Williams, I glued torn strips of tissue paper on the gourds to achieve the look.

This isn't about the ornaments, and it may be hard to see the gourd crown in this blurry screen shot. BUT I still want t...
12/24/2022

This isn't about the ornaments, and it may be hard to see the gourd crown in this blurry screen shot. BUT I still want to share my hope that Nacoochee Presbyterian Church is the ONLY church in the country that uses GOURD crowns in their nativity pageant. This has been the case for MANY years now.

2018Once again, I chose to make something a little too fragile for comfort. They were reindeer to illustrate the theme "...
12/24/2022

2018
Once again, I chose to make something a little too fragile for comfort. They were reindeer to illustrate the theme "In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World." The antlers and tail were made from rusty craft wire; the legs were rusty horse-shoeing nails. I carefully glued these parts in with special super glue but am guessing that some of the antlers move by now. As long as they don't fall out!

2017: Angels Among UsAfter publishing the retrospective, I somehow had new creative energy. I had long wanted to make so...
12/23/2022

2017: Angels Among Us

After publishing the retrospective, I somehow had new creative energy. I had long wanted to make something with gourd pulp, which can be quite beautiful; also, I had never made an ornament with a character inside the gourd. The idea to make angels with pulp dresses felt perfect, though I still worry some about the fragility of the angels. (If anyone reading this has an angel that needs repair, please let me know!) The accompanying message fell into place, and people were very appreciative of it as well as the ornament. In fact, dear Helen Mott told me she read it every day. Here it is:

"There are angels living among us - fellow humans sojourning on this earth - who teach us by their words, deeds, and spirituality to fear not, but rather to embody love in a troubled world. Like the gourd pulp from which this year's ornaments are made - pulp that provided nourishment during the formation of the fruits - the angels among us supply sustenance for our own development as vessels of good will."

2016: Gourding Down in History: A Labor of LoveThis was the last page in our retrospective booklet, which we published i...
12/23/2022

2016: Gourding Down in History: A Labor of Love

This was the last page in our retrospective booklet, which we published in celebration of the 40th anniversary of our business. This year's ornament was the SIXTH since then! Who knew? I hope to post the last six in the days to come if our electricity stays on.

Address

2319 Duncan Bridge Road
Sautee, GA
30571

Telephone

(706) 865-4048

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