Creating a Cute Cat

This particular project is considered to be Advanced, so if you haven’t crafted many gourds yet, you might want to save this one until you’ve gained some more experience.

What you will need:

1 bottle-cross gourd that will serve as the body of the cat
1 dipper gourd that has an interesting curve to serve as the cat’s tail
2-3 gourd tops (if you have made some gourd bowls, the pieces you have cut off will serve as ears and feet of the cat)
1 short piece of dowel
sandpaper
wood filler or spackling
wood glue or a hot glue gun
a broom from which you can pull some whiskers for your cat
a bandsaw, MicroMark saw or a fine-toothed hand saw
a drill and assortment of drill bits

Step 1

Clean and dry your gourds and gourd pieces. Be sure to cut off the stems and sand them flat for all your gourds.

Step 2

Using the saw of your choice, cut off the dipper gourd’s handle so that you have a tail of an appropriate length. Set this aside.

Step 3

Using the saw of your choice, cut the gourd tops in half, vertically. For the ears, you may have to cut them in half horizontally as well to make them small enough. For the feet, if the top is more than 2" in diameter, cut it into quarters and use these as the feet.

Step 4

Select a drill bit the size of your wooden dowel. Drill a hole in the bottom of the cat body gourd and slide the dowel onto it. Use either hot glue or wood glue to secure these pieces.

Step 5

Trim the feet and ear pieces to fit the curve of the cat body gourd and glue those on. Allow the glue to dry completely before going on to the next step.

Step 6

Use the spackle or wood filler to fill in gaps between the pieces, build up a spot for the nose and smooth off the end of the tail. When these patches dry, sand them smooth.

Step 7

Paint your cat gourd any color that you would like. Use a sealer if you think it might get handled a lot.

Step 8

Drill small holes on the face of the cat and glue in the broom whiskers and enjoy your new creation!

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Last Updated: January 21, 20001
Maintained by: Judi Fleming
URL: http://www.twincreek.com/gourds/craft/craft.htm