Tells some of the things that can be done with gourds.

1. What can you do with a Gourd?
Why would you want to?
By
Martha Bloom

2. Gourds can be useful, decorative, or both.
Gourd Bank
Gourd Bowl
Gourd Vase

3. Bottle gourds are a favorite for snowmen and Santa Claus. The mini gourds are often
made into ornaments.

4. Gourds of many shapes are used for bird houses and bird feeders. These are ready for
decorating and can be found at http://marthasgourds.com

5. What are some things that can be used on a gourd?
Gourds can be compared to a wood product so the same type of tools and
hardware, in small sizes can be used for preparing your gourd. There are quite a
few companies that deal in tools that are useful to the gourd crafter. Do a search
for gourd tools on your favorite search engine to find some.
If you have grown some gourds, some of the first things you
will need for crafting are a copper scrubber, dull knife and
small wire brush. The gourd shown here needs the dried skin
removed to reveal the beautiful shell beneath. Find more
about preparing your gourd for crafting at:
http://marthasgourds.com

6. Once you have them scrubbed they are ready for you to start having some
fun. Decide if you want to work on a whole gourd or cut it for a bowl.
If you want to cut it you will need a
cutting tool of some sort. Beginners
usually don’t want to spend a lot of
money at first so simple things like a
hacksaw or exacto knife could do the
job. My favorite cutting tools are the
mini jigsaws that are found at many
gourd tool suppliers.

7. What kind of medium can be used on a gourd?
You can use just about any medium you like to work with. Acrylics, oils,
watercolor, colored pencils, markers, pastels, stains, dyes and the list
goes on. If you don’t feel artistic, you can decoupage pictures or pretty
paper to decorate your gourd.
Gourd crafters experiment with about everything under the sun to see
what all they can use successfully on gourds, and then they love to
share the results with all their fellow gourd crafting friends. You may be
able to find a gourd show near you with classes in all different areas of
gourd design.
You can check out the website of the American Gourd
Society for shows that the different state chapters
hold. http://americangourdsociety.org

8. If you find the idea of crafting with gourds exciting but don’t have your
own gourds to work on visit http://marthasgourds.com for craft ready
gourds of different styles, from whole gourds to cut gourds.