• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Celebration Generation
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Life
  • Shop
  • Gluten-Free
  • Low Carb
  • Camping
  • Spandex
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • About Us
  • Recipes
  • Life
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Media
  • Gluten-Free
  • Low Carb
  • Camping
  • Spandex
  • Join us on Social Media - Food

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • Join us on Social Media - Costuming, Etc

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Celebrations & Holidays » DIY

    Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl

    Published: Jun 18, 2021

    Note: This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for the site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.

    Sharing is caring!

    • Reddit
    • Email
    • Tweet
    • Share
    • Tumblr
    Jump to Recipe -

    How to Carve a Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl

    Originally published May 28, 2012. Updated on 6/17/2021

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    This Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl Tutorial shows you how to use the colours / layers of a watermelon to craft something beautiful!

    About a week ago, we celebrated the one year anniversary of our tornado.

    Hrm. "Celebrated" seems like a weird thing to say about a natural disaster.

    Observed? Marked the occasion?

    Nah, we did celebrate it. On the Sunday afternoon immediately before the actual anniversary date, we have a very small party for those who helped us out following the tornado - a volunteer appreciation party.

    We had SO much help from friends - both the day of, and in the long months that followed - such a party was the least we could do to thank them.

    So.. we handed out "thank you!" copies of Twisted: A Minneapolis Tornado Memoir, and fed them all.

    In addition to the Low Country Boil, party sized Pavlova, and various crudités, I decided to make a watermelon fruit bowl.

    A carved, fancy one - though I'd never even considered the possibility before, much less actually made one!

    Having carved pumpkins before (Nowhere near as professionally as The Pumpkin Geek, but passable!), I figured I had a good idea of what to do. It was fun, and I think it turned out well... so here's how I did it!

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    What You Need to Carve a Watermelon

    Watermelon Carving Ingredients

    A Large Watermelon

    Be sure to see my Stars and Stripes Watermelon Bowl post for a ton of info on how to find the perfect watermelon!

    Fruit for the Filling

    We just wanted bright, colourful, and celebratory, so we bought a BUNCH of different fruits, and went with a rainbow theme.

    For ours, we used pineapple, watermelon, grapes, kiwi, mango, cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.... garnishing with HUGE mint leaves.

    You can use whatever you like - whatever is accessible, or go with a colour theme!

    A close up view of a fruit salad, garnished witha  sprig of mint.

    Watermelon Carving Tools & Supplies

    Drop “Cloth”

    I like to use 2 layers of craft packing paper (office supply stores), or rosin paper (home improvement stores) to cover my work surface.

    Carving watermelon is messy business, and this makes cleanup easier!

    Knives

    Be sure to have a large chef’s knife and a paring knife, at the very least.

    Large Spoon for Scooping

    I like to use a large metal spoon for scooping out the watermelon flesh, as I find metal gives a cleaner edge than a plastic spoon... but that’s probably overly fussy. Use what works!

    Melon Baller

    This one is optional, and I didn’t use one for this project.

    However, if you’d like watermelon balls - rather than chunks - in your fruit salad, you’ll want to use a Melon Baller to carve the balls out of the bulk of the melon before pulling it out of the whole melon.

    Once you’d got enough balled, you can use the large spoon to clean up the inside of the melon.

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    Pumpkin Carving Set

    When I photographed this tutorial, I used just a paring knife to carve it. This worked fine, but was more work than it needed to be.

    Now, I use a pumpkin carving set when I’m carving watermelons - especially the metal-ended carving tools. This Pumpkin Carving Set is the set I have.

    Dry Erase Marker(s)

    I like to use dry erase markers for marking my designs now, a departure from the Sharpies used in the photos.

    Sharpies work fine, but don’t wash/rub off easily.

    A Serving Plate

    I like to use cake plates with a bit of a rim.

    Choose your plate based on the side of your watermelon, and whether or not you want to have fruit around the base of it.

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    Watermelon Carving Tips

    - Before carving the watermelon, give it a good scrub. You can use produce wash, or a mix of water and vinegar.

    - I like to cover my work surface with rosin paper, and use a cutting board. This spares a lot of potential mess.

    - Make sure your knives are SHARP. Dull knives are actually more dangerous, and more likely to result in injury when carving.

    - You can carve your watermelon the day before you need it. Just be sure to wrap the carved - and empty - watermelon in plastic wrap, and store in the fridge. Empty out any accumulated juice before filling it to serve.

    - That said, the watermelon should be at room temperature when carving it. Carve, THEN chill.

    - The first few times I carved watermelons, I marked my design with Sharpies, intending to cut the markings off. DRY ERASE markers work so much better! So, do as I say, not as I did in these decade-old photos!

    - When it comes time to serve it, make your fruit salad in a separate bowl, and spoon it in. This will be most gentle on your carving, allow you to mix the salad well, and allows you to avoid transferring a lot of excess juice with the fruit.

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    How to Carve a Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl

    Mark & Outline the Design

    Before you get started, take a good look at your watermelon - there should be an obvious top and bottom to it.

    Figure out how you want it to sit, and carve a small amount of rind off the bottom. It may take a few passes to get it to sit solid and level - you don't want it rolling around as you work, or after you fill it!

    The bottom is being sliced off the watermelon, for stability.

    Once watermelon has a solid base to it, draw your design on it. I used a Sharpie, fully intending to carve out anywhere I had drawn. In retrospect, a dry erase marker may have been a smarter idea.

    A leaf design is drawn on the watermelon with Sharpie markers.

    Also in retrospect: Caladium leaves pull inward at one end, pointed at the other - sort of "heart" shaped. Whoops!

    Carve The Watermelon

    Note: In retrospect, it would have been better to have carved the leaf design before carving the top off the watermelon. Instructions reflect the photos, though!

    Carefully carve off the top of the watermelon. I aimed for all of the peaks/high points of my design, but you can aim a bit higher if you're not feeling that confident.

    The top part of the watermelon has been cut off, and the inside scooped out.

    You can always carve more away, but it's hard to add watermelon if you've carved away too much!

    Once you've carved and removed the very top, scoop out some of the watermelon - for this design, I left about 1" of red around the side walls.

    This was to allow for the red design to show through in the middle of the leaves. Because there is no need for extra watermelon flesh on the very bottom, I scooped it out almost down to the white rind.

    Note: If you want melon balls, use the melon baller to scoop them out right from the whole watermelon. It’s a lot easier to do that, than to get balls out of melon that has been scooped out!

    Using a sharp knife - I used a good paring knife - carefully carve out the outer edge of your leaf design. Aim to keep your knife straight in, at a 90 degree angle to the surface you are carving - you'll taper the edges later.

    A two part image showing the top edge of the leaf design being trimmed back.

    Once the outer edge has been carved, go back over it and carefully taper the edges in a bit. Clean up any rough edges on the green rind, and taper inward from there - creating a gentle, rounded edge to the white rind, into the red.

    Don't taper it in at too shallow a slope, though - you'll want plenty of red behind the middle of the leaf design!

    A close up view of the leaf design around the top edge of the watermelon.

    Start Carving Your Design

    Using the very tip of your paring knife, trace along one side of your leaf design marks, and then again on the other side of each mark. Take your time, and be gentle.

    Well, not too gentle, anyway - you're going to want to cut deep enough to get down into the white part of the rind.

    Once you've cut the edges of the channel you're about to make, carefully wedge the edge of your knife into one side of your new design lines. You'll want to wedge it in almost parallel to the rind - not go deep with it.

    A paring knife is used to cut the edge of the caladium leaf design into the watermelon.

    Lift your knife a bit, pulling out a bit of rind. Not going to lie, this is fussy work and will take you a while if it's you first go at it! Also, be careful not to stab yourself! It's really easy to cut all the way through the wall, and right in to your hand. Trust me on this.

    Continue carving out the edges of your leaf design, the whole way around. If some areas don't pull up and out easily, you may need to re-cut the edges of the channel in those places.

    A paring knife is used to cut the edge of the caladium leaf design into the watermelon.

    Detail the Leaves

    Once all of your leave edges have been carved out, use your Sharpie/dry erase marker to draw the outer edge of what will become the white interior of the leaf design. (This didn't show up so well in photos, due to glare... thank you, Photoshop!)

    Black marks have been added to show where to cut out the center of each leaf.

    As with the channels for the leaf edges, trace the tip of your knife along the outsides of the new marks, and carefully carve out the green rind inside the designs. Try not to go too deep with it.

    An empty watermelon bowl with a green and white leaf design carved into the top edge.

    Because the exposed white rind is so wet, you'll have to freehand the next bit.

    Leaving a bit of white rind around the edges, once again trace a shallow pattern with the tip of your knife, and carve the middle down to the red flesh of the watermelon interior.

    Tah dah! Bastardized Caladium leaves!

    An empty watermelon bowl with a green, white, and pink caladium leaf design carved into the top edge.

    Serve your Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl!

    Position your fruit bowl on a serving platter (the bottom will very likely leak moisture), and fill with your choice of fruit.

    Be sure it's all ripe and sweet, NOTHING is worse than less than ripe fruit in such a display!

    Set it out and enjoy!

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    More Seasonal Fun With Food

    Looking for more fun, tasty, and crafty ways to celebrate? Here are a few more ideas!

    3D Monarch Butterfly Cupcakes
    Bloody Eyeball Halloween Punch
    Canadian Watermelon Bowl
    Halloween Themed Shooters
    How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro
    Stars and Stripes Watermelon Bowl
    Tornado Smashed Gingerbread House

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.
    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you post it to Bluesky, be sure to tag us - @CelebrationGen. We're also on Pinterest, so you can save all your favourite recipes to a board!

    Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.

    Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    5 from 5 votes

    How to Carve a Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl

    This Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl Tutorial shows you how to use the colours / layers of a watermelon to craft something beautiful!
    Prep Time5 minutes mins
    Cook Time1 hour hr
    Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
    Servings: 1 Watermelon Bowl
    Author: Marie Porter
    Cost: $20

    Equipment

    • Chef Knive
    • Paring Knife
    • Large Metal Spoon
    • Melon Baller
    • Pumpkin Carving Set (Optional)

    Ingredients

    • 1 Large Watermelon
    • Fruit to Fill it With
    • Craft paper, rosin paper, etc (as a drop cloth)

    Instructions

    • Figure out how you want your watermelon to sit, and carve a small amount of rind off the bottom.
    • Once watermelon has a solid base to it, draw your design on it, using a dry erase marker.
    • Carefully carve off the top of the watermelon. I aimed for all of the peaks/high points of my design, but you can aim a bit higher if you're not feeling that confident. You can always carve more away, but it's hard to add watermelon if you've carved away too much!
    • Once you've carved and removed the very top, scoop out some of the watermelon - for this design, I left about 1" of red around the side walls. This was to allow for the red design to show through in the middle of the leaves. Because there is no need for extra watermelon flesh on the very bottom, I scooped it out almost down to the white rind.
    • Using a sharp knife - I used a good paring knife - carefully carve out the outer edge of your leaf design. Aim to keep your knife straight in, at a 90 degree angle to the surface you are carving - you'll taper the edges later.
    • Once the outer edge has been carved, go back over it and carefully taper the edges in a bit. Clean up any rough edges on the green rind, and taper inward from there - creating a gentle, rounded edge to the white rind, into the red. Don't taper it in at too shallow a slope, though - you'll want plenty of red behind the middle of the leaf design!
    • Using the very tip of your paring knife, trace along one side of your leaf design marks, and then again on the other side of each mark. Take your time, and be gentle.
    • Well, not too gentle, anyway - you're going to want to cut deep enough to get down into the white part of the rind.
    • Once you've cut the edges of the channel you're about to make, carefully wedge the edge of your knife into one side of your new design lines. You'll want to wedge it in almost parallel to the rind - not go deep with it. Life your knife a bit, pulling out a bit of rind. Not going to lie, this is fussy work and will take you a while if it's you first go at it! Also, be careful not to stab yourself! It's really easy to cut all the way through the wall, and right in to your hand. Trust me on this.
    • Continue carving out the edges of your leaf design, the whole way around. If some areas don't pull up and out easily, you may need to re-cut the edges of the channel in those places.
    • Once all of your leave edges have been carved out, use your Sharpie/dry erase marker to draw the outer edge of what will become the white interior of the leaf design. (This didn't show up so well in photos, due to glare... thank you, Photoshop!)
    • As with the channels for the leaf edges, trace the tip of your knife along the outsides of the new marks, and carefully carve out the green rind inside the designs. Try not to go too deep with it.
    • Because the exposed white rind is so wet, you'll have to freehand the next bit. Leaving a bit of white rind around the edges, once again trace a shallow pattern with the tip of your knife, and carve the middle down to the red flesh of the watermelon interior.
    • Position your fruit bowl on a serving platter (the bottom will very likely leak moisture), and fill with your choice of fruit. Be sure it's all ripe and sweet, NOTHING is worse than less than ripe fruit in such a display!
    • Set it out and enjoy!

    A large, brightly coloured watermelon bowl display. The watermelon is carved with a Caladium Leaf design, and is filled and surrounded by a rainbow assortment of fruit.

    Related posts:

    A Canada Day, Canadian Themed Watermelon Bowl. White and red maple leaves are carved into the watermelon, which is filled with red and white fruit. How to Carve a Canadian Watermelon Bowl! An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue fruit. How to Carve a Stars and Stripes Watermelon A small sushi cake. Layers of rice and fish in the form of a birthday cake. DIY Sushi Birthday Cake! Various sushi fixings are shown laid out on a paper-lined table. There are plates of fillings, a bowl of rice, a stack of nori seets, and wrapping utensils. Sushi Party!

    More All Recipes

    • 4 part image showing various different bagels. Overlaid text says 25 plus fantastic bagel recipes.
      Bagel Recipes
    • A sliced loaf of marbled chocolate and peanut butter banana bread.
      Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
    • A plate of Greek Layered Dip, with Tzatziki cream cheese dip, hummus, a Greek salsa made of olives, cherry tomatoes, red onions, cucumber and fresh herbs, topped with feta.
      Greek Layered Dip
    • A chocolate bundt cake and a bag of homemade chocolate cake mix.
      Chocolate Cake Mix

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kim Ode

      May 29, 2012 at 8:05 am

      5 stars
      Drop dead gorgeous. I've seen cutouts designs and such before but never with the express intent of recreating something that actually is of those colors. Caladium! Love it. And an early Happy Birthday to you!

      Reply
    2. Suzanne

      July 25, 2012 at 11:22 pm

      5 stars
      So beautiful!! I love carving pumpkin and this will be such a fun project for our open house. Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
    5 from 5 votes (1 rating without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Marie Porter


    Evil Cake Overlord, All -Around Kitchen Badass!

    More about me →


    Join us on Social Media

    Bluesky Logo - White on Blue background. Pinterest Logo - White on red background. Youtube Logo - White on red background.

    More Than Poutine: A Uniquely Canadian Cookbook.
    Learn to sew with spandex

    Most Recent Posts

    • A yellow cake bundt cake, with a bag of homemade yellow cake mix.
      Yellow Cake Mix
    • A plate of eggless oatmeal banana cookies.
      Banana Oatmeal Cookies
    • A plate of St Patrick's Day rocky road brownies topped with toasted marshmallows, pecans, chocolate chips, and green tinted icing.
      Rocky Road to Dublin Brownies
    • A plate of moist and fluffy eggless banana muffins.
      Eggless Banana Muffins


    META

    Site Admin

    Logout

    Entries Feed

    Footer

    About

    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Contact
    • Media

    Newsletter

    • Click here to sign up for emails and updates

    Our Other Blogs

    • Beyond Flour
    • Low Carb Hoser
    • 2 Nerds in a Truck
    • Spandex Simplified
    • Marie Back on Ice
    • Autism Rants

    Note: This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for the site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. While I’ll only ever link to items that I, personally, wholeheartedly recommend, I do need to put that disclosure out there!

    Copyright © 2024 Foodie Pro on the Foodie Pro Theme

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.