Garden Plants for Crafting

Ornamental Gourds

• Once dried, ornamental gourds can be used to make birdhouses, rattles, drums, vases, bowls, flatware or planters, among other things. If you place a jar, bottle or box over a gourd while it is growing, it will take on the shape of the container. Gourds come in many shapes, sizes and colors. They are relatively easy to grow, but they require a large space or significant support.

  Gourds such as Turk's Turban, a cultivar of Curcubita maxima, can be used to make hanging plant baskets. It was named for its resemblance to a Turkish sultan's crown. Cut off the stem so that the gourd will sit flat. Allow your Turk's Turban to dry until the shell is hard and you can hear the seeds rattle inside.

  Use a jigsaw to cut a 6-inch-diameter or larger hole in the bumpy portion of the gourd. Smooth the surface inside and out with extra-fine sandpaper before you apply five to seven coats of clear acrylic sealant. Drill three evenly spaced 1/4-inch-diameter holes 3/4-inch from the open edge of the gourd.

  Cut three strands of heavy twine that are 4 feet to 6 feet long. Double the strands. Pull the looped end of the three strands through a 1-inch-diameter O-ring. Thread the loose ends of the strands around the ring and back through the loop. Pull tight against the O-ring to make a lark's-head knot, which is the correct knot to use when attaching cords to a stick, ring or handle to begin a macrame project, according to Free Macrame Patterns website owner Thomas A. Wright.

  Thread two of the loose ends through each hole in the gourd from outside to inside. Knot the ends on the inside of the gourd. Fill it with potting mix or Spanish moss and plant it with trailing petunias, ivy, philodendron or air fern.

Grapevine

• Cut grapevine at the end of the season to roll into wreath bases, or roll the vines as they grow. End-of-season grapevine may have to be soaked in a bathtub, 30-gallon bin or other container to make it pliable. Grapevine is also used to weave baskets.

  Cut thin, hardened runners to use as spokes. Use 1/8-inch to 1/2-inch-thick wooden circles, ovals, hearts, stars, squares or rectangles as bases for your grapevine baskets. Drill evenly spaced holes around each shape, 1/2-inch in from the outer edge, the same diameter as your spokes. Brush the end of each spoke with contact cement and push it firmly into the base. Allow the contact cement to set for several hours before you continue. Weave grapevine in and out between the spokes until you reach the ends. Tuck the end of the vine back into the basket so that it is hidden on the inside.

  Cut 3-inch to 6-inch-wide cloth the same length as the circumference or perimeter of your basket. Lay the cloth so the short ends are at your right and left hands, with the length facing you. Fold the edge farthest from you down 1/2-inch and press the fold flat with a steam iron set for your chosen cloth. Repeat to fold up the side closest to you. Match the folded edges together and press along the close side to create seam binding. Fit the basket into the open edge of the seam binding and hand-stitch it to the top edge of the basket.

Flowers

• Press flowers such as pansies, bachelor's button, daisies, petunias and morning glory. Laminate them to make cards. Dip them in egg white and sugar to make accents for cakes. Seal them in clear resin to make paperweights.

  Dry mums, carnations, roses, crimson clover, teasel and thistle heads and cattails. Make dried flower arrangements or use the dried blooms to make potpourri. Dip seed pods and teasel or thistle heads in colored wax to make fire starters.