How to Make Art Out of Fruits & Vegetables

Although fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that prevent malnutrition, fight cancer, optimize cardiovascular function and delay aging, most Americans eat less than half of the recommended five servings. Many people consider eating fruits and vegetables to be a chore. However, arranging produce into a colorful and artful display will make it more appealing and inviting. Your works of art will tempt others to look, smell, touch and taste the vegetables and fruits they contain.

Things You'll Need

• Wooden sticks
• Fruit bowl
• Floral foam
• Cornucopia basket
• Fruit scissors
• Fruit and vegetable carver
• Food marker
• Grapes
• Pumpkins
• Squash
• Corn
• Apples
• Strawberries
• Cranberries
• Oranges
• Cantaloupes
• Tangerines
• Pineapples
• Papayas
• Avocados
• Kiwis
• Blueberries
• Grapes
• Plums

Instructions

1. Use fruits to make an edible arrangement. Buy wooden sticks, a fruit bowl and floral foam from a crafts store. Cut out a piece of floral foam that is small enough to fit into the fruit bowl, and place the foam into the fruit bowl. Cut the fruits into floral shapes. Attach the floral shapes to the wooden sticks, and attach the wooden sticks to the floral foam. Repeat until you have a floral arrangement you like.

2. Arrange fruits and vegetables into a cornucopia. Although American culture associates cornucopias with Thanksgiving and autumn, they can be used year-round. Purchase a cornucopia basket from a crafts store or online and purchase many brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Stuff as many fruits and vegetables into the basket as possible. Since cornucopias represent an abundance of harvest, place extra fruits and vegetables around the basket. The best types of produce for cornucopias are grapes, pumpkins, squash, corn and apples.

3. Carve fruits and vegetables into animal shapes. You can carve any fruit or vegetable into an animal. Think of an animal you would like to carve, then think of fruits and vegetables that resemble the animal, either in color or in texture. For example, the white fur of sheep resembles the color and texture of cauliflowers, and the green skin of frogs resemble green peppers. Use your wooden sticks for the limbs, and use a food (edible) marker to draw eyes and mouths. Edible markers are available online or at a grocery stores.

4. Arrange fruits and vegetables into a rainbow. Except indigo, there is a fruit or vegetable in every color of the rainbow. For red, use strawberries or cranberries. For orange, use oranges, cantaloupes or tangerines. For yellow, use pineapples or papayas. For green, use avocados or kiwis. For blue, use blueberries, and use grapes or plums for purple. Arrange them into the color pattern of a rainbow, and put them in an arc shape.

References

• Edible Crafts Online: Edible Creations and Fruit Boquets
• Village of Joy: Fruit and Vegetable Art

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Fruit and Vegetable Carving