Whenever you need to carve something round you need to make a flat surface. You don't want to cut too deep. Justenough to make whatever you're working with stable.
Lightly draw your rough pattern onto the melon. I recomend a dry-erase marker. You can see here the handle cutout. I was in a hurry and forgot to snap a picture of it. Any pieces that get cut out of the removed part of the shell are easiest to cut while still in place even if you don't actually remove them at that point.
Once you have your idea/pattern decided on it is time to mark the actual cut outs. Do these deep and keep in mind what you are using for a tool to make the cuts. To get a nice level surface if you place your marker on a cup or something similar as shown. This works for the cross cuts as well. Usually I would have cut a small flat spot on the opposite side of the melon and marked the cross cut the same way.
Use a melon baller to scoop out the insides. Separate the balls from the other. I like to alternate between the large and small. Here you can see I cut out some notches and fastened the handle with 4 toothpicks. I leave them high and place fruit in them to hide them.
To prevent the fruit from getting soggy you will want to make a drainage hole in the bottom. To keep everything from dripping into the platter and making a mess I insert a flex straw and cut it so it is level with the bottom surface of the inside. You may also notice I make a channel in the center to create the lowest point.
To place the skewer for the wheels I use the same technique as I do for marking. Place the skewer on a level surface to hold it level as you push it through the melon. Place a grape/cherry or two on first and then the orange slice. (Thick pineapple would be a better choice but it was already cut into chunks) Then cut the skewer about 1/4" form face of orange slice and a blueberry or something to hid the skewer. I have scissors that will do the trick but gardening clippers will work. Just wash them fist.
Here you can see my rough lines still in place. I used a dry erase maker so they wiped off clean.
Altogether this took just shy of an hour to prepare but you can get real creative by carving designs into the rind for a more elaborate look. Clay tools work the best. I ended up pitting and cutting the cherries before they picked it up and had a bit of time so I reworked the handle a bit too. On the table it sat on a small 4x6 piece of foam and was surrounded by flowers.
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When the photos are all uploaded, click on each, one at a time. They should enlarge. Then you just click and drag with your mouse into the body of the article.
Does that make sense???
Kevin!!!
I think I understand what you are saying and it does make sense but I will probably leave this alone for now as I don't know if every time I make a change it gets posted to everyone. At least it's not pathetic looking as it was before with the little blue question marks.
Thanks again ...for the comments too. I made this at the last minute a few weeks ago. I was just cooking for the dinner party after the shower but the person who was supposed to bring the party food bailed out that morning. I used Lemon Ice and a modified lassi recipe from Jennifer Wickes that was a big hit too.
And lemon ice sounds so good!
Maybe I will try in a bit. What a day. Just got to the place where I am cat sitting. I have an internet connection. Yeah!! Got here so late because I received a call from a friend this AM and her roof was leaking after all the wind and rain we've been having. It was pretty old and crumbly and she doesn't have the money to get it fixed so I threw a few tarps on it. Not fun.
I'm so beat I fell asleep writing this reply. Lemon Ice sounds real good right now but I am too tired to even eat and I feel like a boiled lobster. A lemon Ice bath would be great.
Did you check out the recipe. Definitely worth the effort when you want to make something cool and different.
Thanks for participating in my survey about the Federal Reserve! This is comment #1 of 10.
It was an interesting survey. I don't even have 10 posts to comment to so don't feel obligated.
I was going to say, you don't have enough content for me to give you the full reward. I think this is the 10th comment, though.
Your Friend,
Rene
Variations of this are all over the place. I used to have a book it was either by Dover or Sunset where I had gotten many ideas. I usually try to be a bit more creative especially with fruit because it is so easy to work with. Clay tools and inexpensive wood carving tools and even deep metal cookie cutters work great for making more elaborate carvings and designs on the side. Books on garnishes etc will show you techniques that you cab use a million different ways.
I had written a lengthy response in a ping about your request for some ideas and it got lost in Gather land somewhere. Most of the times I try to ping someone it fails. Sorry. I have to scoot out for a while but will rewrite and see try to ping you again or post it here. Sorry about that.
For whatever reason I cannot ping you.
Whenever I do a child's party I research the subject. Children 6 and under will not hesitate t tell you that your creation is "half baked" if it is too "perfect". i.e. If you make a cake that is to resemble their house which is all roundly and lopsided and you make it square with with sharp edges the adults may be impressed but the children won't be. For the most part we adults have simple minds. Children don't.
I am not too familiar Princess Dinosaur and there weren't too may pictures on the web so my ideas are somewhat limited.
If I were to do a watermelon I would actually use two. One round and an equal or smaller diameter "normal one. Don't be afraid to bring a tape measure. I would use a sewing tape measure as they are the best for measuring round things. The round one would be the main part of her head and the other the snout.
I would first cut one end of the "normal" one to hold the round one. If you get close enough you can then use your dry erase maker holding it close to the round one and you should get a nice tight fit. When you are done you may want to use a bit of sugar to make it stick or even toothpicks or some wooden skewers. You would do this after most of the cutting has been done as you will need to separate them to do the rest of the "carving". Make a few marks so you will be ably to line them up during assembly. While they are still together I would use a coffee can or something similar based upon the size of the "head" to mark out an area for her crown. This would just be a round hole about 4"±. For the crown I would either cheat and find something similar at a party store or something or use strawberries topped with a blueberries or raspberries held in with toothpicks that have tinsel on the top. You may even keep the strawberries separated with the same.
She appears to on;y have upper teeth (you'll wan to verify) so I would use a knife to cut her mouth. This will have been drawn out with a dry erase marker. The techniques I described in the baby carriage will not work so well but sewing pins or an extra pair of hands and the sewing tape measure will come in handy. Use a cup or something similar to mark the corners of her mouth and then where the upper and lower lips would be on her open mouth. Basically cutting a triangular wedge out. Once you have the "boundaries" marked out don't worry about being crooked etc. as dental hygiene doesn't appear to be one of her strong points. When that is done and you have removed the fruit cut about one eighth of an inch in and remove the skin from the rind to reveal her pearly whites.
I would try to remove as much of the fruit as possible in as large of chunks as possible and then cut it and any other melon you might use about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick slices and then use metal cooke cutters to cut out shapes. Think about shapes that relate to her or dinosaurs.
http://cookiecutter.com/
Hope this helps with some ideas.
Thank you.