Carve a Watermelon Flower Garden
Everyone loves the look of a beautiful garden with blooming flowers. Now you can bring this joy to the table by carving a watermelon like a flower garden. It's a fantastic centerpiece which will have all your guests talking.
Steps
- Wash the watermelons. Cut a ¼ inch slice off the bottom of the oblong watermelon to provide a stable base. Cut the top third off the watermelon lengthwise to provide the flower bed.
- Cut out flat pieces from the flesh of the slice and from the flesh from the flowerbed piece. Use cookie cutters (or free hand cut) for the desired shapes for flowers. Be sure to cut shapes from the yellow watermelon as well. The image shows daisies and tulips.
- Soak skewers in green food coloring to make the stems for the flowers. Set the wet skewers on paper towel to dry.
- Use a small melon baller to create flower centers from both the yellow and red watermelons. Assemble the flowers by attaching the center balls to the flower heads with toothpicks.
- Place each flower head on a tinted green skewer. Then, insert each skewered flower stems into the base flowerbed.
- Be sure to alternate colors and feel free to experiment with other colorful fruits like cantaloupe or blueberries.
- Fill the basket flowerbed with the rest of the fruit in flower shapes and balls.
- Shape a couple of pipe cleaners into leaves and carefully attach to the skewer stems.
- Use a hot glue gun to attach the popsicle sticks around the flower bed, as shown, to create a fence for the garden. Be careful when handling the hot glue gun.
- Garnish with other fun shapes such as butterflies, ladybugs or honeybees.
- Finished.
Tips
- This same method can be used to add pineapple and cheese on sticks to make more fun shapes.
- Other fruit can be used if you want to mix up the flavors, for instance, grapes, stone fruit or berries. Be sure to use fruit that won't brown or turn to mush though.
Warnings
- The hot glue gun is extremely hot. Don't let kids handle it, and be careful.
Things You'll Need
- Oblong seeded watermelon
- Small yellow watermelon (or substitute mini red watermelon or pineapple)
- Flower shape cookie cutters (optional)
- Melon baller
- 20 Skewers for flower stems
- 50 Popsicle or jumbo craft sticks for picket fence
- Toothpicks
- Hot glue gun
- Green food coloring and pipe cleaners (optional)
