Fruit Bouquet

Fruits can be enjoyed at any time of the year.
Fruit bouquets makes a great table decoration on special dinners. The colourful bounty makes a great centre piece. It definitely attracts every one's attention and makes a conversation piece. It also makes a great gift for any occasion for teachers, party hosts, baby showers, bridal showers etc..This makes an ideal gift especially if you are visiting a sick person in the hospital, as a get well soon gift, you are sure to make their day. The fruit arrangement deserves appreciation at least for the efforts involved. It is  the most time consuming project, because you want the bouquet to look perfect. But once it is done, It's a piece of art to marvel.
Kids can help you with this project  at various stages like washing the fruits, taking the stems out, using the cookie cutter, beading the grapes etc. They find it really interesting, and it's a good way to  introduce various  fruits to them. Talk about the colours, textures, tastes and shapes. Take every opportunity to teach them the importance of healthy eating.

Items required:
Pine apple  - sliced and cut in flower and star shape
Water melon balls  -  few
Cantaloupe - peeled,sliced
Honey dew- peeled , sliced
Grapes - 1/2 lb - beaded on skewers
Strawberries - 10-15
Skewers - bunch
Tooth picks - few
Lettuce leaves to layer
Wicker Basket
Dry floral foam / piece of  styrafoam/  thermacol - to stuff in the basket
Cookie cutters - Star shaped, flower shaped
Melon ball scooper



Method: 

• Pick a beautiful wicker basket or other container of choice.
• Pick colorful fruit that is free of bruises and blemishes.  Wash the fruit and pat dry. 
• Fill the wicker basket with  dry floral foam/ styrafoam/ thermacol, Cover it with lettuce leaves. Now your basket is ready to add fruit . 
• Take the melons , peel and scoop out the seeds and make slices. Stick the slices to  the skewers.
• Bead the grapes one by one on to the skewer. Make sure that the skewer doesn't stick out of the one on the top.
• Take each strawberry and stick a bamboo skewer on top of it, make sure not to poke out the skewer from the other side. 
• Using the cookie cutter, press each slice of pineapple and cut out a star shape and flower of pineapple.
• Using the melon ball scooper, scoop out one ball of  watermelon. Cut the  watermelon ball in half and lay the flat side of one half against one pineapple flower. 
• Now take each pineapple flower and stick a tooth pick through the center. Stick that part of the toothpick onto a watermelon ball, but don't let the skewer stick out the other end of the watermelon ball. 
• Once you have  all of your fruit on skewers. Place each skewer into the dry floral foam .  I had to break a few inches off some of the skewers to get them to the right height .The key  to make it look perfect is to adjust the skewer lengths.
• Another key to making your fruit bouquet to look full and bounty rich, is to have plenty of fruit to add.
• Fill  up the empty spaces with the strawberries or grapes. 

Storage:  Plastic wrapped fruit bouquet can be prepared one day ahead and can be stored in the fridge for a day, at the most. It needs to be covered properly with the plastic wrap to protect from dust and contamination.  Once properly sealed with the wrap, it is easy and convenient to transport your work of art.

Gift wrapping:   To gift wrap your basket, place the fruit basket in the middle of the plastic gift wrapping, and bring up the sides. Secure the plastic gift wrapping at the top with a cello tape.  Embellish and add some extra personal touch to the gift basket to make it special, such as  adding bows, ribbons, tags etc.

Tips: Wash all the fruits before you start anything. 

Cover it with plastic wrap once you are finished with it and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use . 

Plastic wrap helps to protect from dust and makes it easier to transport, if you are taking to a pot luck or different parties.

Chocolate covered strawberries are other addition to think of...


This is my contribution to the event Kids delight   and at  Mina joshi's " Give me some spice".