Tag Archives: theme

How to Decorate Food With Watermelon Carvings

Posted on by

Watermelon is an incredibly versatile fruit that can used to decorate a number of desserts, main dishes and also cocktails. You can do more with it than carve it up into chunks and throw it into fruit salad. Watermelon is easy to work with and holds it’s shape which is not something that can be said of all fruits.

One way to get artistic with them is to make watermelon roses. You can line a bowl with these roses or, perch them on top of an arrangement with a toothpick. The roses can also be used to rim a cake or a dish of a sorbet. They are the perfect frozen garnish for a sorbet or ice cream cake. They also suit many types of cocktails, especially those using a melon based liquor.

Makin a watermelon rose one is easy enough to do. You use a knife to cut a large chunk of fruit from the watermelon and then carve out five to seven thinner strips of watermelon in different thicknesses and lengths. You then take the strips at either end and coil them around each other to make a rose shape. Fruit dip or melted chocolate can help your roses stick together. You can also spear them on the green stem of a toothpick.

The types of watermelon carvings that can be made are as only as limited as your imagination. Using a kitchen knife you can hollow out the flesh from the rind and make a decorative bowl. People make everything imaginable from watermelons including pirate ships and baby carriages. The finished carving be filed with blueberries, melons, grapes and strawberries.

You can also use a melon baller on watermelon flesh. You can spear these with other fruits, stack them or use them as décor for ice cream or any other dessert. Watermelon balls also look great frozen in an ice cube or frozen by themselves and dropped in a cocktail. They go especially well in a tall frosty glass of coconut water.

Another interesting project is to simply cut flat slices of watermelon and then use cookie cutters to create watermelon themes. You can then arrange these shapes as desired on a plate or around a dessert.

One of the nicest carvings to be made out of a whole watermelon is the lotus shape. Simply cut the peel off of the top of a watermelon and then start making wedge shaped cuts into the flesh that look like petals. Keep doing this in a spiral upwards until you have what looks as a closed lotus bud shape.

How to Decorate a Wine or Martini Glass

Posted on by

One way to completely personalize a party is to paint the martini glasses. The possibilities for creating themed glasses are practically endless. You can paint them with the theme of the night, such as a pumpkin for Halloween, with the names of a bride and groom or you can paint them to match your china.

The first thing you need to do is completely clean the glasses. Wipe them with a paper towel that is soaked in alcohol and let the glass air dry. It is best to use brand new glasses as older ones sometimes have residues on them that prevent paint from sticking to thesurface. Make sure the glass is big enough to paint on in the first place!

There are many different paints you can buy to use for this project including both opaque and transparent paints. You can also get paint that gives glass a frosted or spackled effect. You can get very creative as glass paints come in every color imaginable. If you are not good with a brush you can also buy markers that contain glass paint that can do a good job. The markers are especially good if you want to create detailed designs with a lot of intricate touches.

If you are talented, just go ahead and paint an image on the glass free-hand. You can also use a pattern or a stencil on glass. Simply tape the design you want to use on the inside of the glass and then just paint the outside of the glass as the pattern shows.

You usually have to bake the paint on the glass. You put your finished glasses in the oven and heat to the temperature advised by the paint company. Once the glasses are done having the image sealed into the glass by the oven heat you take them out of the oven and let them air dry. Note that you do not have to do this but using bake-on paint allows the glass to be used in the dishwasher and survive daily wear and tear for a longer time. However for best results you should always hand wash the glasses carefully which will help preserve the design.

There are several different paints you can buy that allow you to be very creative. Opaque paint doesn’t allow light to pass through it, but transparent paints do. You can also get paint that makes the glass look frosted or crackled. Glass paints come in every color of the rainbow–and considering that a little goes a long way, you’ll have plenty of paint to experiment with on other projects. You can also buy glass paint markers that allow you to letter or make intricate designs.

Most paints are water-based and are easily cleaned off of your brushes, skin and other places with a little soap and water.