Description: Most ancient cultures used gourds in every aspect of life. Decorating gourds is everybody's favorite craft, as you'll see from the more than two-dozen varied projects shown here. A handy guide tells you where to find or buy gourds, and how to prepare them. Then use your easily-learned skills with leather-dye, egg-dye, spray and acrylic paint, wax shoe polish, découpage, airbrush, waxed linen, dyed raffia, and beads. Select your projects: storage containers for food, medicine, herbs, seeds, oils, jewelry, and even sacred objects. Turn dipper gourds into ladles, bowls, and cooking utensils, or create musical instruments such as thumb pianos, harps, banjos, drums, and rattles, as well as a variety of masks, earrings and necklaces, piggy banks, bird feeders, birdhouses, toys, candleholders, and luminaries.
My Thoughts: I was not exposed to decorating with vegetables most of my life and was not very interested in Native American art which did use alot of gourds in the area I grew up in. However, with some life changes that have been made, I am very interested in sustainable crafts projects and growing your own gourds for a craft project...that is very sustainable.
This book has a wealth of information for the beginner! Tools, techniques, repairs...everything seems to be listed that one needs to get started in crafting with a gourd. There are uses for gourds that really never crossed my mind and I look forward to growing some this coming spring in my little container garden!
