Crafts You Can Make Out of Gourds

Gourds have many great uses. They are versatile vegetables that have many uses in the craft world. They are in the same family as squashes and pumpkins, so their life span is longer than many other vegetables. They also have a harder skin, that when soaked makes a great base for most designs. Here are some great crafts you can make with gourds.

Starting with some fun ornaments and or garland you can make with your gourds:

For both ornaments and garland you will need to get several of the smallest gourds you can find. They are found in the same place as the pumpkins, squash and other sized gourds in your local grocery store.

You will be looking for the size of your fist, or even a small fist. This will call for the smaller the better, in the size of the gourds, in order for these craft ideas to work well. If you imagine the size of ornaments you want on your tree, or the size of a garland string, you will see what I am talking about.

You will also need to get the paint you want to use for decorating the gourds. You can use a clear lacquer or some other type of colored paint. It can be in a can, or can be spray paint. Depending on what you want to do for color and design will have a great deal to do with the painting options.

A good string or twine will also be needed for this craft to work well. Finally you will also want to get some other small ornaments, or plastic fruits, leaves, flowers and or pine cones to go with these decorations.

You will want to soak the small gourds for at least a few hours in warm water. This will soften the tougher skin and make it easier for you to clean that skin off with some steel wool. You will want the surface to be as smooth as possible. Next let the gourd dry completely.

Next put a small hole in the top of the gourds so that you can use string or wire, to put them into place on the garland strand or hang them as ornaments. Do not string them yet though.

At this point put on your base coat of paint. Then let it dry. Now design the gourds the way you want them. Then put on a topcoat.

When it is completely dry, you can use the string to string the gourds on the garland or hang them from the tree.

You can also create beautiful bowls or birdhouses from the larger sized gourds. I will go over some basics of what you will need to do for these types of crafts. However, you may want to look up some good recipes that can give good variations to the craft idea.

The size of gourd you will be looking for are going to be at least six inches tall, not including the stem.

For the bowls you will want to follow the same preparation instructions listed above. Let the gourd soak in warm water for at least four hours. Clean them completely and let dry.

For the bowl, you will want to cut off the top of the base with the stem. Clean this out, and dry completely. Then paint the bowl how you would like.

For the birdhouse, you will want to get the same size of a gourd, though a little bigger would be better. The size needs to be big enough that you will be able to put a hole in the center for the bird to be able to sit in.

You will use the same painting and cleaning methods as listed above. However, you will be putting a hole into the top for rope to be used to hang from a tree.

These are all some great crafts you can make out of gourds. There are many more great ideas and recipes out there. So enjoy your time with the wonders of crafting you can do with gourds.