Country Kids: Be creative with gourds

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Julia Thompson (left) and Veronica Castaneda carefully draw faces and clothes on their gourds. -- Staff photo by Taylor

June 9, 2005 - Ornamental gourds, such as the Martin (kettle) Gourd, the Dipper Gourd, the Purple Martin or the Goose Gourds offer lots of fun for kids and adults to get "creative."

There is no "right or wrong" way to decorate

a gourd; just have fun.

Once you choose the type gourd you want to work with, the first thing you need to do is make sure it is fully dried. (You can hear the seeds shake on the inside.)

The next thing you need to do is make sure that the outside of the gourd is as clean as possible by scrubbing it with a brush or scouring pad out of the kitchen. Once the outside feels as smooth as possible, and the dirt is off, dry the gourd with a paper towel or cloth. Make sure the gourd is perfectly dry before you start your art work.

When we decorate gourds, we look at the shape and decide what it could be. Does the shape look like an animal? Would it be good to paint a scene on it? Or is it a good shape to paint a funny face on?

There are many ideas, and it's fun to get creative with drawings, colors, and even some things that can be glued on.

The first thing you need to do, after making sure the gourd is completely dry, is to take a #2 pencil and draw the patterns on the gourd. (Use a pencil because it's easy to erase the marks if you need to.)

Once the gourd has been drawn off as a person, animal or continuing scene (as on a Canteen gourd which is shaped like a pumpkin), you are ready to choose colors. We use liquid, acrylic paint.

You can either leave the gourd simply painted, or you can find miniature things to glue on the gourd, once all the painting is done and dried. If you decide to glue things onto the gourd (such as yarn for hair, hats, flowers, etc.), make sure the paint is completely dry!

Also, you can spray the painted gourd with a shiny coating of clear varnish to keep it from chipping, but do that and let it dry, before gluing things on the surface.

You can paint gourds to look like real people, or you can use a picture or simply your imagination! Some gourds can be cut, emptied of the seeds and used as bird houses or water dippers. It's all up to you and your imagination!

You can find gourds online or at many country fairs or farm stands. Before they are ready to be picked, the gourds and vines make a good, shady cover, if you grow them from seed and place them on a support.