As you sit down to eat your pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, consider another member of the Cucubitaceae family of plants—gourds. Before glass bowls, metal utensils and plastic pitchers, there were gourds. Historically, these versatile fruits were used to create a wide variety of useful and decorative items, including dishes, baskets, water and storage vessels, birdhouses, art pieces and even musical instruments.

Hard-shelled gourds (Lagenaria) come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and have been grown, dried and used throughout the ages in most areas of the world. Though nowadays we generally use gourds as decorations in North America, there are many areas of the globe where they are still used to store and carry food and water and made into musical instruments for religious services.

Gourds can be fashioned into just about anything you’d like. Gourd crafting is a hobby that can be enjoyed by using a few common household and crafting items. And though you can get fancy if you want, no special tools or artistic skills are required.

Each gourd is different, and there is no right or wrong way to embellish one. Decorate gourds by carving, staining, dyeing, woodburning, painting, drawing with permanent marker, or simply polish them with shoe polish and buff until they shine. You can also attach items to gourds, such as netting, leather, beads and dried plant materials, such as leaves.

For more ideas and instructions on gourd crafting, consult the book by gourd crafting pioneer Ginger Summit: Gourd Crafts: 20 Great Projects to Dye, Paint, Cut, Carve, Bead and Woodburn in a Weekend (The Weekend Crafter).

You’ll find the shiny, often bumpy gourds in stores now, but they aren’t the best for decorating. Rather, you want the hard-shelled Lagenaria gourds that you can either grow in your garden next spring or purchase from a gourd farm. At a gourd retailer, you’ll find gourds in all shapes and sizes.

Julie Bawden-Davis is a garden writer and master gardener, who since 1985 has written for publications such as Organic Gardening, Wildflower, Better Homes and Gardens and The Los Angeles Times. She is the author of seven books, including Reader’s Digest Flower Gardening, Fairy Gardening, The Strawberry Story, and Indoor Gardening the Organic Way, and is the founder of HealthyHouseplants.com.