Gourds

Shekeres, also spelled sekeres, are gourds covered in a beaded "skirt" that people use as percussion instruments or for decoration. These instruments originated in Africa. You can play them…

Luffa gourds grow best on a trellis system, so you can easily grow them along the back of your garden or on a fence where you can control the wandering vines. As the gourds become brown and dry, pick…

Gourds come in many twisted, snaked and bulbous shapes that can get ruined or distorted if left lying on the ground. The best way to solve this problem is to grow your gourds on a trellis. A trellis…

A loofah gourd is a cold-sensitive, fast-growing annual vine, and a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes pumpkins, cucumbers, squash and melons. However, this plant is not typically…

The natural shape of a dried, woody gourd lends itself to a number of handicraft designs, both decorative and functional. One classic gourd craft is the dipper, a kind of spoon or ladle made to take…

Gourds, small non-edible fruits very similar in appearance to pumpkins, are often used for decoration during the fall months of the year. Growing in a variety of colors including yellow, orange, green…

Gourds are fruits that grow from a flower on a vine. The best way to dry them is simply to leave them on the vine until they dry naturally. Weather, such as rain and snow, won't hinder the natural…

A South African Zulu legend tells the story of the goddess "Marimba" playing music by striking wooden bars placed over gourds. Many cultures, from Africa to South America, have used this…

"Benincasa hispida," or ash gourd, is part of the Cucurbitaceae family along with melons, pumpkins and squash. Ash gourds are round or oblong, green, and covered in a thick, white, waxy coating with…

Gourds have been used throughout the world for thousands of years not only as food, but also as containers because their shape and skin lend themselves to this perfectly. However, gourds are rarely…

Making gourd shakers for toys or musical percussion instruments can be as simple as just letting the gourd dry and allowing its seeds to become the noise makers. Or, you can drill a hole in the gourd…

Many people often use gourds as part of their fall harvest décor. Unlike pumpkins, you can dry gourds and use them over again. The art of gourd burning takes practice. However, as you delve…

When fall rolls around, pumpkins and other gourds become a plentiful decorating option. While pumpkins tend to have smooth surfaces, some other gourds come with warts and imperfections. If you want…

Gourds are in the same family of plants as pumpkins, squash, cucumbers and melons. If you can recognize one of those more familiar plants, then you probably will recognize a gourd. The family's…

Handmade gourd bowls, birdhouses and baskets are unique crafts that take time and patience to complete. One difficulty is figuring out how to hold the gourd during the cutting, painting and finishing…

Make your own gourd spoons to hang in your home as rustic decorations or as functional food utensils. Gourds have been used for centuries for food as well as for bowls and ladles. Follow a specific…

A drinking gourd is a long-stemmed gourd cut and hollowed to look like a large spoon or ladle. Some ancient cultures, such as Africans and Native Americans, used gourds as utensils for scooping water.…

Birdhouse gourds have wide, round bodies and long, thin necks with a small section of vine extending out of the top. They vary from 6 inches and up in height. The gourds dry naturally when left on the…

Gourd painting has become a popular American folk art form, turning one of our natural resources into a canvas to display one's creative and artistic skills. Once dried, the gourds will last…

Gourds are members of the squash family and come in many shapes, sizes and colors. Traditionally, they have been used to craft functional pieces like bowls, baskets and water dippers. Today, they are…

Gaara is a character from the manga and anime show Naruto. Gaara is a rival ninja from the Sand Village. Gaara is small for his age and extremely talented. He has the power to control sand to harm and…

Dried gourds can be painted in any manner you wish. A gourd is dry when you shake it and the seeds rattle. Once they are dry, they can be cleaned and painted. Often gourds are made into bird houses…

Make some "ouroboros" crafts to hang as decorations in your home, or assist a child in making them. An ouroboros is the ancient symbol of a snake in a circle, eating its own tail. In ancient cultures…

The snake gourd, also known as serpent gourd, is a tropical plant, with the scientific name Trichosanthes cucumerina. It naturally grows in India and southeast Asia and will grow in warmer locations…

Oil pastel pencils are similar to traditional lead pencils. The oil pastel is inside of a wooden pencil. It can be sharpened and used like any other pencil. Oil pastel pencils do not make the mess…

Decoupage is the process of affixing a photograph to any surface using a thin layer of glue and sealing it using varnish. Before attempting this process be sure to work in a well ventilated area, and…

Goose gourds have a natural shape that looks like a goose with a graceful, elongated neck that ends with a pointed beak. Paint a goose gourd to look like an actual goose, with painted flowers, leaves…

For centuries, humans have grown gourds, dried them, and fashioned them into musical instruments, canteens, birdhouses, bowls and even used them as bobbers and floaters when fishing. Today, artisans…

Gourd painting has become a popular craft for hobbyists. Gourds are similar to pumpkins. They are easy to hollow out and have a hard shell perfect for carving and decorating. After all the hard work…

If you enjoy growing gourds in your garden, you may think that you can only grow gourds that must be eaten. However, you can also grow decorative gourds, such as Gooseneck Gourds, which can be dried…

Gourd vases are dried fruit shells made out of plants from the Cucurbitaceae family. Typically created by hollowing and dehydrating squashes, these items are used as decorative holders for floral…

The African thumb piano, or mbira, dates back more than 800 years in Sub-Saharan Africa. The piano is a small wooden block or box with a series of 6 to 33 keys spaced evenly over a sounding bar. The…

Native Americans used hard-shelled gourds in a variety of crafts. These gourds, which are indigenous to the Americas, were very important to many tribes, especially for containers. Gourds were also…

Older women today are more vital than ever, so selecting a gift based on antiquated ideas about age is not the right approach. Instead select gifts for the older woman in your life based on her…

Painted gourds are surprisingly easy to create and versatile enough to work for any theme. The key to painting a quality piece is to make sure the gourd is fully dried before decorating. If the gourd…

Dried hard-shell gourds have the consistency and appearance of wood. They can be painted, cut, glued, carved, sanded and branded. Because of this, gourds have become a medium used by painters and…

Wooden canteens may sound like a bad joke or a poor way to prepare for a camping outing, but as recent as the Civil War era, wooden canteens were widely used throughout the U.S. Often carried by…

Dried gourds are often used as decoration, especially during the autumn months and around Thanksgiving. They are used for their wood-like properties and unique shape. Often other crafting materials…

Gaara of the Desert is a character from the popular anime series, Naruto. He is a dark character that loves carnage and killing those that stand in his way. Gaara is aged 12 early in the Naruto series…

Throughout history, humans have fashioned dried and cured gourds into birdhouses, gunpowder containers, musical instruments and art pieces. The dipper gourd saw a slightly different use as a ladle for…

Gourds, used long ago by our ancestors as bowls, dishes, spoons and music makers, can today be easily turned into a beautiful centerpiece to adorn any table. Once dried properly and cleaned, a gourd…

A swan gourd is a large gourd with a hard shell, a round belly and a long swooping top that makes it resemble the graceful swan. Swan gourds can be used in many crafts, including basic painted gourds…

The Kalimba, or thumb piano, is a percussion instrument. The user creates the sound by stroking flat pieces of metal with their thumbs. Adding a resonating board changes the pitch of the instrument…

Gourds are in the pumpkin family and have many uses all around the world, including musical instruments, pipes, masks, birdhouses and water jugs, according to the Wayne's Word website devoted to gourd…

Decoupage is an easy and fun craft to do with your own kids, with a scouting troup or with a classroom full of elementary school art students. The word "decoupage" is derived from the French word…

Sherlock Holmes' famous pipe is called a calabash pipe. The curvature of the bowl on a calabash is formed while the gourd is still growing, the farmer of these gourds manipulates the neck of the gourd…

Gourds are often funky shaped vegetables that belong to the squash and pumpkin family. These colorful vegetables come in such a wide variety that they can be used as creative accents to home decor.…

Gourds come from the same family as the squash and pumpkin. A dried gourd provides crafters and painters an opportunity to work with uncommon media. There are three main types of gourds: cucurbita,…

Gourds are among the oldest of cultivated plants, dating back to 2200 B.C. They were commonly preserved and used as containers or carved into scoops. Gourds today are grown in a variety of types and…

Gourds are a type of fruit produced by plants in the Cucurbitaceae family. Commonly associated with fall, the squash-like fruits are often dried and used as decorations. Gourds come in a wide variety…

Paint pens or paint markers can be used to decorate dried gourds in the same manner as acrylic paints. The biggest difference is that paint pens are easier for many people to use because you can…

Dried gourd crafts include birdhouses, decorative pieces and even bowls. Once you find gourds to use in your craft project, it will take a lot of patience and time to dry them. Gourds can take…

A bird feeder is a great addition to any yard. A well placed bird feeder is almost guaranteed to keep birds coming back to your yard, which is especially nice if you are an avid bird watcher. Bird…

Many cavity-dwelling birds love to nest in gourds. They're safer for nestlings than birdhouses with a ledge or porch, and a variety of bird species inhabit them. Lots of people paint gourds white to…

Due to the attributes that make them similar to wood, gourds have become a popular crafting medium. Like wooden object, gourds can be carved, stained, painted, polished and stenciled. While the shape…

Create pretty decorative gourds by painting them using a few materials. Gourds used for crafts projects are the dried shells of fruit that are in the same family as the pumpkin, similar to squash.…

Many Native American tribes used gourds as bowls, water containers and even for spoons. While there are still some people today who pride themselves on the creation of these objects, there are…

Cleaned, dried and hollowed gourds are often used decoratively, but gourds can also be used for food and water storage. Gourd canteens and food containers are a unique utilitarian craft and are…

A dried gourd has both an interesting shape and a hard, woody texture when dried, making it a long lasting and durable material to decorate for a craft project. There are a variety of different arts…

As fall encroaches on summer like the vines of a pumpkin plant onto the garden, fall handcrafts become a popular activity to make and sell. One of the most popular fall handcrafts are homemade…

Whether you want to dry out your gourds for decoration purposes or craft purposes, the process is actually quite simple. Large gourds are often more difficult to preserve, usually because they don't…

Native Americans and early American pioneers fashioned canteens from gourds. These hollow, lightweight members of the squash family still make sturdy waterproof containers. To make your canteen,…

People have been carving gourds for thousands of years. They're used for water dippers and bowls and birdhouses and feeders. Many gourds carry the nickname of their use on the seed packets, such as…

Drying and decorating gourds is a fun craft and a handy way to use up the leftover gourds from your garden. Gourds are simple to grow, fun to decorate and they make great center pieces and accents for…

A darning gourd or darning egg is a wooden object held in the hand and used as a steadying device during the darning process. Often considered a vintage item in the modern age of throwaway and…

Traditionally constructed gourd drums require rawhide and a gourd. These are items easily found our purchased. Read on and follow the prescribed steps to make your own gourd drum.

The gourd has many uses. In the past, the gourd was a popular tool among the tribes of Africa and South America. The gourd can be used as an instrument, container and decoration. No matter what the…

Learn how to add embellishments to your mask made from a gourd in this free craft video.

Learn about drawing guides for making a mask made out of a gourd in this free craft video.

Learn how to color your mask made from a gourd in this free craft video.

Learn about the different types of gourd art you can make yourself in this free craft video.

Learn how to sell decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to finish a decorative gourd art project in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to add decorations to gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to embellish decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to make a shadowbox for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to add color to decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to finish the inside of gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn tips on how to use a torch to burn designs on gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to draw on gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to make a design for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to clean the inside of gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to drill into gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to use a saw to cut gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to cut gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn how to clean gourds for decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn all about gourd farms and decorative gourd art in this free online video arts and crafts lesson.

Learn the history of using gourds for arts and crafts projects in this free online video.

Gaara of the Desert is a character from the Naruto world and carries a huge gourd made of sand on his back. If you're planning on making a Gaara costume, making his gourd is essential to nailing the…

Making a gourd rattle is fun, and you can use it as an instrument, give it as a gift to a child or paint it with beautiful colors to use as a decoration. Follow these steps.

Who knew a gourd was so handy?