Edible Fruit Arrangement

Yay... I'm finally back and ready with instructions on how to make this adorable fruit arrangement.

Last week, I went to visit a friend who recently bought a beautiful new house. It was my first time seeing her new place but it was also a playdate for our kids and another friend of ours and her kids.

The three of use first met 4 years ago at a new moms group when our kids were just weeks old! We've been friends since and even though we don't see each other as often as we once did, we still get together for a playdate/lunch dates every few months.

I usually bring the fruit salad to these get together but wanted to make it a bit more special this time since we were also celebrating my friend's new home. Well, she loved it and made me happy that I made the effort to try something new.


Ingredients

Pineapple (whole)
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapes ( I used green and red)
Kale (for decoration)

Tools

Ceramic pot (I found this cute one at Michael's)
Florist Styrofoam
Wood Skewers
Melon Baller
Flower shaped cookie cuter (large and medium or small sized)
Kitchen shears or pliers (for trimming skewers)
Glad Press n' seal plastic wrap
Clear gift bag and ribbon


Start by thoroughly washing and drying the pot. Trim the Styrofoam to fit inside the pot. Place Styrofoam in pot making sure you have a snug fit. Then cover top of Styrofoam with Press n' Seal wrap.

Wash and dry Kale. Place a few leaves of Kale on top of Styrofoam to cover it up and for decoration.

Next wash and dry all the fruit. *Be sure to have clean paper towels on hand to wipe fruit while you work with it, as it tends to get a bit wet from the juices.

To make the strawberries, just trim stem and leaves. Then thread skewer through stem side of strawberry and set aside.

To make grapes, jut tread about 4-6 on to skewers and set aside.

Also using your mellonballer, make several cantaloupe balls and set aside.

For the pineapple daisies, start by trimming the top and bottom of the pineapple. Then cut several 1/2 inch slices. Then take your flower cookie cutter and center it on a slice of pineapple. Press down hard to cut out and repeat with all pieces. Then thread the pineapple flowers through the hard center (this keeps them from sliding down)and top each with a melon ball.

For the watermelon flowers, cut several slices about 3/4 inch thick. Trim the the watermelon skin off and reserve. Next use the smaller flower cookie cutter to make the flower. Now, take the reserved watermelon skin and cut several 1 inch square pieces. Thread the skin pieces first on to the skewer. This will keep the watermelon in place and prevent it from sliding down. Top each flower with a melon ball.

Once, all the fruit flowers are made you are ready for assembly. Just arrange the fruit in the pot and trim the the skewers to make some flowers shorter than others.


Close up of the flowers.

Once the arrangement is complete place it in the clear gift bag and tie the top with the ribbon. To store this arrangement you might need to remove a shelf in the refrigerator to accommodate the height. I made this the night before and it held up perfectly.

All wrapped up and ready to go!