Okra grows so well in the heat of the summer here in the low desert. Picked young and tender for eating, for this project it’s okay to let them sit on the plant until they are long and dried out.
Okra, as it turns out, can make lovely Santa Claus ornaments for Christmas decorating!
I collected these pods over the summer and let them dry. I chose to paint the majority of my Santa ornament and glue on a small piece of cotton ball for a mustache.
Initially, I tried to use my daughter’s white tempera paint but it did not produce a bright white on the pod. So I looked in the garage and ended up using some white interior latex paint/primer combo that did the trick! After that dried, I used some light pink/beige paint from my daughter’s set for the face and some red for the stem/hat. A dot of glue and a twist of cotton ball created a mustache. A couple of dots from a sharpie for the eyes, and voila!
How to Grow Potatoes in the Desert