#avocado stone

[erindrewpotter]

An avocado stone carving I made

[aliceinknittingland]

My clever son has been carving mushrooms out of avocado stones.

So I've helped him turn them into jewellery.

Apparently I was channelling my inner Davina this morning, but this set? It's mine 😘

[dpalden]

A few offerings from my solitary retreat - all unfinished.

[jennibeemine]

I'm having a Halloween sale! New listings are up in my shop and more are on the way. Everything is 10% off now through Halloween.

Check it out on my Etsy store.

[jennibeemine]

Just finished polishing a new batch of pendants. I loved how shiny they looked, so I polished the old ones too.

I'm putting up new listings in my shop this weekend. I'm also sharing coupon codes with Instagram followers, so check me out @jennibeemine

[flavoursandfavours]

Grow a beautiful Avocado plant

Avocados are incredibly delicious and nutritious, but you can even use the stone/seed of it to grow a beautiful little plant from it. It’s really easy and fun to do!

You will need:  

a nice Avocado stone

1 glass or mason jar

3 toothpicks

a sunny spot on a window sill or similar

little pot

soil

Here is how:

First off be aware to not harm the seed when you cut open the Avocado and take it out carefully. Then wash it well under running water.

Pat it dry. Take the 3 toothpicks and push them in at an equal distance to each other, so that they feel stable, not wonky. The seed should be at least half submerged in the water, it can therefore help to point the toothpicks in an upward angle.

Then take your glass or jar and fill it nicely with fresh, cold water almost to the top and place the Avocado seed/ toothpick structure on top of it. If you have a sunny window sill that is great, as it will need as much sunlight as possible. In the first few days it is good to change the water regularly to avoid mold and fungus growth, from then on every few days. But beware to never let the seed go dry, it always has to remain in water otherwise it would die if it dried out.

Within a few weeks, some take quicker some slower, you should see the top of the seed drying out and a crack forming through the middle of it from top to bottom. Sometimes top layer of “skin” crackles and might even fall off, that is fine as long as your bottom half is always submerged in water. If the crack gets bigger, you can even see a little root starting to grow from the centre inside your seed.

First the roots will grow and then soon after you will see a little shoot sprouting out from the top. Let this grow until the stem is 15 cm long, cut it back to about 7 cm, this will encourage new growth.

When it grows up to 15 cm again, you can then place it in a little pot with about 20 cm diameter and filled with good, rich soil. Put the seed half in the soil, with the upper half exposed, same like in the water. Be sure still to let it get as much sunlight as possible, water it regularly and watch it grow. Don’t overwater, when the leaves turn yellow it means they have gotten too much water, let it rest for a few days.

In the summertime you could also let it be outside, as a general rule if it is warm enough for you to sit outside it would be warm enough for your little plant. Not in storms and strong rainfalls though. As soon as it gets colder in autumn, take it in and let it grow with you inside the house.

About the photos: top two are of mine at the moment where I live, first one just started sprouting. First image is of the one, which has a little sprout beginning to grow in the centre. The other two below are of one seed that I started growing at the beginning of this year and is now a fully growing plant, as you can see in the last photo.

[mackincaid]

I thought I’d try my hand at carving an avocado seed, so here are my first results. On the left is my first rough attempt with a partially broken piece, and you can see some improvement from the left eye (which I carved first) to the right. Then with the second attempt, on the right side, I’m obviously getting a better handle on my tools. :D I tried inserting beads for eyes, but unfortunately the material wound up being too thin, and the head cracked. I’m still going to give them a few days to dry so I can see how much shrinkage occurs and how they turn out when fully dried, so I know how best to proceed with my next one. If you’d like to see how a finished piece should actually look, make sure you check out @avocadostonefaces on Instagram who makes absolutely beautiful avocado stone carvings. And my thanks to them for inspiring me to give it a try!

The dried seed should be hard like wood; I carved this one after letting it dry only a few days pre-carving, so it was still very soft and pliable. (It felt a lot like carving on a raw potato. :D) As it dries it should also tighter down around the bead eyes and keep them in place, so I’ll be able to see whether that process causes amy more splits as it dries and be able to adjust how I’m carving the eye holes if necessary.

I’ll probably let it dry a bit longer next time before carving to hopefully give myself a slightly firmer canvas, and maybe have a better idea of where the stone naturally wants to split as it dries… I’m afraid I made rather a mess of this one. :D Very pleased with how my second try came out, though. I’ve never done any carving before so having it come out so much like I intended was definitely a confidence booster. :D Next time I’ll look at some of my barn owl reference photos to hopefully make for a more accurate owl face, too. :D

[rosapark-blog]

avocado stone

...has launched! check it out at www.avocadostone.com or avocadostone.tumblr.com!