DIY: How To Make Gourd Birds
What are gourd birds you might ask? Well, ever seen those funny-looking pumpkins at the patch? Those are actually not pumpkins or squash, they are GOURDS! Gourds are used for decoration purposes rather than being harvested to eat. A great way to utilize these funny-looking things is by making them look like BIRDS and using them for decor for Thanksgiving! If you take a look at them already, you can imagine the stem to be a beak and if it’s curved funny…then it starts to look like a funny bird! So let’s get crafty and we’ll guide you the whole way through!
Let’s Talk Supplies
First, you’re going to need gourds. Where can you find gourds? The best place to find gourds is at pumpkin patches (half off) because it’s the end of the season OR at any fruit stand/market nearby. Sometimes they're tricky to find, but most of the time they are the leftovers from the pumpkin season! Next, you’ll need to look in your craft drawer or hit up a craft store for some googly eyes, red felt (optional), orange paper (if needed), colored pipe cleaners, a hot glue gun, and some skewers.
Now, we say optional for the red felt because you can make these birds look like roosters, turkeys, or any bird YOU want! You’ll just add a little bit of red felt to the areas your bird needs it, for character! Lastly, the orange paper comes in handy because sometimes you’ll find a gourd without a stem that takes the place of the beak. This is where you will shape the paper to look like a beak! Without giving too much away let’s move on to the next part!
ASSEMBLING THE BIRD
Now that you’ve got all your supplies, it’s time to make this gourd look like a BIRD!
You’ll want to start off by deciding if you want to use their stem (if they have one) as their beak and if not, that’s when you can use paper to craft out a triangle or a 3D triangle to glue on the top end of the gourd! If you want to use other materials to make the beak than paper, go for it! Next, you’ll want to grab your skewers and stab them into the bottom of the gourd at a slant and cut them to where they are going to stand up, while also making it look good! Then we’ll take those pipe cleaners and wrap them around the skewers making feet as well! Next, grab those googly eyes and glue them at the top of the gourd where they look good next to the beak! Now, if you want to do some extra, add some red felt (or red anything) underneath the beak to act as a turkey! AND YOU’VE GOT A BIRD!
MAKE IT YOUR OWN
Now that we’ve given you some structure, feel free to break some rules and use other materials you want to use or make it look how you want it to! You can even use small pumpkins instead and decorate further with feathers or leaves to give texture and character! Remember this is a fun craft and YOUR craft so do what you want with it! Now, where should these go? Use them as decor during this Autumn season and even use them as Thanksgiving decor as well! The possibilities are endless!
Take this opportunity to feel like a kid again and CRAFT, while also using your resources! Have a GOURD time crafting Seawolves!