I always look forward to seeing the baskets full of gourds this time of year. They come in so many wonderful colors and shapes. If you don’t have any dried gourds from last year to work with there are places that sell them already dried. If you prefer to do it yourself and come back to the article later, just add it to your favorites so it will be easy to find.
Dried gourds are often used for birdhouse. Today we are going to focus on making bowls. Both are great and can be given as gifts for the holidays. Once dry they are very durable and accept paint and shellac easily.
The shapes are so organic that it is fun to paint either with the flow, in an organic pattern or totally against the grain and paint in a rigid geometric pattern.
Materials Needed:
Hacksaw
Gourd, dried
Thin tape (1/8 inch or smaller)
Acrylic Paints
Brushes
Shellac
Fine tip black permanent marker
Newspaper or plastic to cover work surface
Make sure the gourd is thoroughly dried first. Taking the hacksaw, cut the dried gourd in half or at an angle to leave a bowl shape.
Geometric Pattern: Paint the entire bowl solid black. Using tape, lay out your pattern crisscrossing it. Make shapes of different sizes and angles keeping the tape very straight and linear. Paint each shape made filling in the spaces. You can add stripes, polka dots, zig zags, or any pattern you choose. If you get stuck for a design, trying making a design out of your initials or the initials of the person who the bowl is for.
Organic Pattern: Paint the entire bowl solid black. Using tape, lay out your pattern crisscrossing it. Make shapes of different sizes and angles keeping the tape very curved. Do not allow the tape to be perfectly straight at any point. Paint each shape made filling in the spaces. You can add stripes, polka dots, zig zags, or any pattern you choose. If you get stuck for a design, trying making a design out of numbers using birthdays, anniversaries, or simply lucky numbers.
Remove tape. This will leave a black outline around each shape. The thinner the tape, the thinner the outline. Use a fine tip black permanent marker for any touch up.
Shellac inside and out. Allow to dry.
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