Note from Robbyn:
Recently, we asked our readers what they’d like to see here, and the feedback was great! Many folks were interested in seeing more crafting tutorials, and right about that same time I saw some fantastic handmade finds on Angie’s/farm mom’s wonderful blog Children in the Corn. I’m honored to have her as my guest here today, sharing her tutorial on how to create beautiful and useful treasures from simple garden gourds. Thank you, Angie!
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Growing and Working With Gourds
If you’re a gardener who likes to craft, or give handmade gifts you’ve probably already dabbled in gourds. If not, they are definitely something to consider.
Gourds are members of the Cucurbita family, that vine-y family that includes pumpkins and squash. The best advice on growing gourds I can give is to plant when you would usually plant your other squashes and pumpkins, and care for in the same manner. (If you would like more specific instructions, go here.)
I find that they are a very easy plant, requiring little care and when others in the same family succumb to disease or pests, the trusty gourds live on. These plants do love to spread, so if space is an issue try growing on a fence or trellis, as they are excellent climbers.
To dry, put the gourds somewhere cool, dry and with good air circulation. We place ours on a table in our basement.
Now, I have to admit a certain amount of neglect here. We keep an eye on ours, to be sure no soft spots develop. If there is a soft or mushy spot, we add it to the compost heap, as the gourd will rot and attract fruit flies if left. Other than that, we pretty much leave the gourds alone to dry.
As they dry, they loose moisture and will develop mold. If the presence of mold bothers you or you have an allergy, try drying your gourds in an outbuilding or garage. Or, follow the advice of others less neglectful than myself, and wash your gourd in a bleach solution and wipe off moisture daily.
Dry thoroughly.
Make a line around the gourd in pencil where you would like the rim to be and cut.
Scrape out the seeds and sand the inside and rim of the bowl with sandpaper.
Now you’re ready to decorate your bowl in whatever way you see fit. We painted the inside and rims with black acrylic paint. We watered down the paint for the inside of the bowl, and turned the gourd to coat.
After two coats, this is what it should look like.
After waiting about half an hour, we then buffed the gourd with a clean cloth. This is the difference in color between a gourd left natural and one polished.
As you can see, the gourd on the right has the deeper, warmer tones we were going for.
After that I drew a design along the rim of the bowl in permanent black marker.
Then we sprayed the outside of the bowl with a sealer, and that is it! Homemade gourd bowls.
Beautiful, functional, handmade gifts grown right in your own garden.
Awesome to see you here, Angie! And a fantastic post!
I will be growing some of these this year. Great post!
NOTE: Angie’s been having some computer problems and will be back here to comment…as soon as her computer will let her 🙂
Robbyn
Awesome tutorial Ang. Now I know what to do with all those dried out gourds in my attic. ;0)
I wish I had the room to grow them 😦 – Boy they sure are pretty – you have quite a talent – thank you for sharing 😀
Awesome! This year I plan on growing some gourds so this was very helpful. Thanks!
Wonderful post , I’ve always wanted to try gourd art and you make it sound sooo easy. I hope to plant some gourds this year and give it a try.
What kind of paints do you use ?
~ Many Blessings ~
JoyceAnn
Those are so wonderful! I can’t wait to make them.
How do you clean out the birdhouse gourds once the birds have nested in them for season?
Great post! I’m planning to grow gourds for gifts as well.
I’m thinkin about doing this for Christmas this year. A great way to celebrate a homemade Christmas!
I’ve thought about growing these gourds for ornamental purposed. Thanks for showing me how! They do look great.
Thank you everyone! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I really encourage those of youwho are hinking about it to take the plunge! 🙂
JoyceAnn- I used acrylic paints, but I imagine you could exeriment with all types, even natural homemade paints and dyes.
EJ-Well, being the technical girl that I am….I just kinda used a stick and shook the heck out of it! 😉
Those are beautiful!
Ooh, wonderful crafts! Your birdhouses are so lovely.. I’ll definitely be making some this year, but with finds from the farmers’ market, since I’m pretty sure my apartment can’t grow gourds!
I remember the baby rattles my grandmother used to make with tiny gourds: they were too cute and totally healthy.
Mine are at the molding phase. Thanks for posting this as I’ve tossed soft ones, but thought the ones molding might have to go too. Guess not.
What kind of sealer do you use for the painted gourds?
The shoe polish is a creative idea!
Thanks so much for sharing your info and creativity!
Great post. Where did you get that hand model, I’ve never seen such exquisite hands!
I love the colors on the birdhouses.
Excellent. I just order some birdhouse gourds on the advice of a friend. I’ll be referring to this tutorial for instruction!
GREAT POST Angie! I have been waiting for this one and I will definetly mention it on my blog as well because I think this is craft that many will enjoy. Thanks SO much for the tutorial.
Thanks again everyone! 🙂 I’m really glad you all enjoyed the post.
bonnie- we used a clear acrylic sealer.
michelle- Hahaha, I’ll tell Eric you said so! 😉
Great post. I will be using these techniques this year!