This tutorial is written using PSP 7.04, but could be done easily in other version.
The tool locations will be for version 7 though. Sceenshot will be at 100% unless otherwise noted.
The screenshots are also optimized for smaller file size, so your results may look somewhat different.

Items needed.
Paint Shop Pro
Angie's Ornament Topper tube of your choice.

Save Often!

Let's get started. Open a 250 x 350 transparent canvas.
Set your background to a lovely pickle green, I'm using #066006. Foreground should be turned off.

1.) Preset Shapes set to Ellipse, Create as a vector, and Antialias both checked.

2.) Draw out a long oval, leaving a small amount of space at the top to later place your ornament topper.

3.) Click on your object selector, right click on your canvas and chose Node Edit. The screenshot below
shows the placement of my nodes....

As you can see I put a stem at the top of my pickle, this is where the placement of the ornament topper will be.
Convert to raster, rename to pickle.

SAVE!!

4.) Make your pickle a floating selection. (Go to selections, select all, selections, float...or use the selections
tool set to rectangle and draw around your pickle, then click in the middle.....whichever way you like best will
be fine.) Once you have the ants marching around your pickle, add a new layer naming it detail 1.

5.) Set your foreground color to a light green. I'm using #12A012. Airbrush set to these settings.....

Spray some lines on your pickle with the above color. Alternate between the colors listed below, spraying
some touches, lines and spots for bumps on your pickle.

Colors used...
#12A012
#171E08
#ABDD49
#B8B05A

This is how mine looked once I got the colors sprayed on...... I added more as needed when I started to blend
the colors together....

SAVE!

6.) Now here's where the fun starts! *L* There is two ways you can blend your colors. One is using the
smudge tool and the other is using the push tool. I will put the settings below for both and you can
decide which you feel more comfortable using...

For Smudge Tool...

For Push Tool....

I personally prefer the push tool along with the soften tool. I did merge the detail layer and the pickle layer
visible before I started with the push tool.
Think of the push tool as a real paint brush, when color is applied to a canvas the colors can be mingled
around with a brush to make different colors. This is sort of how the push tool works also. If you haven't had
much practice working with the push tool this might be just the chance you've been waiting on to give it a
try!! Just remember, light touches with the push tool can go a long way. *L*

Here is a screenshot of my finished pickle once I pushed it around a little!!  Okay, a whole lot of pushing
shoving, pulling, begging, pleading and softening went into the finished pickle!! *LOL*

7.) With all layers merged visible except layer 1. I select floated my pickle and applied a cutout using
these settings...

Deselect!

That's it, you now have a Christmas Pickle. For a topper I used Angie's topper tube she made. Add a new
layer and place the tube at the top of you pickle, use the deformation tool to angle the topper to make it "fit"
the stem of your pickle. Merge layers visible, crop to remove any unwanted area and export as a tube to be
used however you wish.

Thanks Angie for allowing the use of your toppers for this tutorial!!

I hope you've enjoyed this tute and that you will be the lucky one to find the pickle this year!

Until next time..
Have a safe and happy holiday!
*HUGS*
Connie