Made On Delmarva: Creations By Cindy

A shop filled with decorations for every occasion.

Cindy and Patrick Hochmurth are the brains behind each item and trinket at Creations by Cindy.

"Our shop is mostly seasonal, Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day. And we do things that goes with each season. I absolutely love it," says Cindy.

The past 25 years the duo have combined their talents to create pieces of art that folks can display in their homes. One of the talents that comes into play in their pieces is their passion for farming.

"You grow something from nature and see what you can make out of it," says Patrick.

Yes they use their crops to harvest art!

One of their popular pieces are their birdhouses made out of gourds.

"We plant them outside around the first of May and they grow as big as a pumpkin," says Patrick.

The gourds are planted on their 100 acre farm. They stay on top of the ground until the frost kills the vines, but that's actually the shortest part of the process.

"They take 6 months to a year to dry and we leave them out there basically until they dry and then we go pick them up on a wagon," says Patrick.

The gourds are then scrubbed down to reveal it's smooth exterior. Then there's a little more drying out that needs to be done before this fruity idea can really come into fruition.

"Drill some holes to hang them with and the bottom for the water to drain out when it rains," says Patrick.

He then pulls out the seeds from inside the gourd and then takes a metal wire and loops it through the holes so it can be hung.

Finally he takes acrylic paint and makes a beautiful design, creating a 'gourd-geous' home that our feathery friends can nest in.