Learn techniques for making holiday ornaments out of fruit gourds. Make a Santa head from a banana gourd, a snow couple from mini-bottleneck gourds, and shiny ornaments from egg gourds. Eight projects show how to make your holiday gourd come alive with a little paint, beads, ribbon, a rubber stamp, and other handy household items. With 203 color images and step-by-step directions, both the beginner and advanced gourd artist will have fun decorating this holiday season. Features a gallery of completed projects that will inspire new innovations of your own.

The shape of an Apple Gourd makes it perfect to decorate for beginning artists. Ten projects include a 'Be My Valentine' gourd, fish and rooster adorned gourds, a gourd decorated with gift wrapper, and a 'Thinking of You' gourd with well-wishes written on it. There are many techniques presented. Through 178 color images and step-by-step directions you can use color, paper, common art supplies, and special effects as decorations. A gallery of finished projects will inspire your own creations.

Remember the snowflakes you cut as a child? This book re-introduces basic cutting techniques for snowflakes and provides designing tips for making original snowflake papercuttings. Use snowflakes for everyday or seasonal decorating. Use design and cutting skills to make other interesting flat and three-dimensional ornaments. Frame personalized snowflakes for unique gift giving. With the fundamentals mastered, snowflakes can become a fun part of everyday decorating and gift giving.

Bring new direction and inspiration to your gourd crafts by adding motion! Gourd art is often stationary-either elaborately decorated items of beauty or practical tools-and introducing motion breaks the world of gourd crafts wide open. Using small gourds and easily accessible tools and supplies, learn to make your gourd projects spin, jump, and more! Clear instructions and step-by-step photos teach how to generate four basic types of movement in any project: spinning, jumping, up and down, and rise and drop. Create a flock of moving flamingos, kinetic sculptures, a human in a swaying rowboat, spinners that create optical illusions, a duck that waddles complete with flapping sounds, and many more. Written with beginners in mind, these ideas provide inspiration for modern gourd crafters to explore new, dynamic, and active avenues for their creative talents.