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    Home » All Recipes

    How to Carve a Stars and Stripes Watermelon

    Published: Jun 18, 2021

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    How to Carve a Stars and Stripes Watermelon Bowl

    Originally published June 13, 2012. Updated on 6/17/2021

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue fruit.

    If you’re wondering How to Carve a Stars and Stripes Watermelon, look no further. This could be perfect for your July 4th celebration.

    When I recently got it in my head that carving a Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl would be cool, I had no idea that it would inspire me to do other watermelon designs.

    Here's the 3rd in less than a month - I swear I'm done now! All watermeloned out!

    As I promised on my Canada Day Watermelon Bowl, I had carved a second watermelon that same day... for my American friends.

    Well, and to gain brownie points with my American husband, after all of the Canada Day talk that had preceded it!

    So here we go, with plenty of time before the 4th of July - a Stars and Stripes themed watermelon fruit bowl! Perfect for any red, white and blue Independence Day party, BBQs, potlucks, or whatever.

    This design whipped up quickly and easily, and is sure to impress!

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue fruit.

    What You Need to Carve a Watermelon

    Watermelon Carving Ingredients

    A Large Watermelon

    See further below for info on choosing one!

    Fruit for the Filling

    To keep this bowl on theme for the “Stars and Stripes” / Independence Day thing, I went with red, white, and blue fruit.

    Some ideas:

    Red Fruit: strawberries, raspberries, red grapes, cherries, red currants, pomegranate arils, watermelon balls.

    White Fruit: Peeled Lychee (fresh or canned), apples*, pears*, bananas*, white dragonfruit/pitaya, peeled rambutan, pineberries, coconut, white mulberries.

    Blue Fruit: blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrants.

    * These fruits should be tossed with a bit of lemon juice, to prevent browning.

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue fruit.

    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.

    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.

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue fruit.

    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.

    How to Choose a Good Watermelon

    Watermelons don’t continue to ripen once they’re harvested, so you want to be sure to pick one that is already ripe... without being OVER-ripe.

    You’ll want to use a few different senses when it comes to assessing your potential watermelon selections!

    Look at It

    There are several visual indicators that you should keep in mind when selecting a watermelon. Look for a watermelon that:

    - Is dark, not pale green... and with a matte colouration. Shiny watermelons aren’t ripe yet.

    - Is nicely symmetrical.

    - Is free of bulges, lumps, dents, bruises, and cuts.

    - Has a large yellow section on what has been the underside of the melon, as it was growing. Yellow = ripe. Green or white = not ripe. Also, the darker / richer the yellow, the more it was allowed to ripen on the vine.

    - Has a dried stem, if there is stem present. A “fresh” green stem means it was harvested before it had fully ripened.

    Touch It

    Going by feel is another way to ascertain whether a watermelon is likely to be in good shape or not. In general, pick a watermelon that:

    - Is firm all over, with no soft spots.

    - Feels heavy for its size.

    - Feels like its weight is balanced. Even aside from the symmetry issue, you want one where the weight is evenly distributed.

    Hear It

    Specifically, pay attention to how it sounds when you hit it.

    Give your watermelon a whack with the palm of your hand - a thump, not a slap.

    If you get a deep sound, you’re good to go. If it sounds dull or hollow, it’s probably too ripe / going bad inside.

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue 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.

    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 Bowl

    Mark & Outline Your 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!

    A large round of rind is being cut off the bottom of a watermelon.

    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 stars and stripes design has been drawn on a watermelon with a black sharpie marker.

    Using the very tip of your paring knife, trace along the edges of your design marks. 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.

    A hand holds a paring knife up to a cut made in a watermelon.

    Start Carving Your Design

    Once you’ve cut the edges of the design piece (say, a star) you’re about to carve out, carefully wedge the edge of your knife into one of your new design lines.

    3 star shapes have been cut and carved out of a watermelon rind.

    You’ll want to wedge it in almost parallel to the rind – not go deep with it. Lift your knife a bit, pulling out a bit of rind.

    A two part image showing stars and stripes being carved out of the watermelon 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 slip and drive the knife right in to your hand. Trust me on this.

    Continue carving the rind out of your designs, until finished. Be sure to leave a green rind border between each individual design element.

    A two part image showing stars and stripes being carved out of the watermelon rind.

    Also, for now just concern yourself with getting it down to the white - it doesn't matter that some areas will be red eventually - we're getting there!

    Carve and Gut the Watermelon

    Carefully carve off the top of the watermelon.

    The top section of the watermelon has been cut off.

    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.

    A two part image showing the center of the watermelon being hollowed out.

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

    Note: If you want to serve the watermelon as balls, use the melon baller to remove the flesh. It’s a lot easier to do it when it’s intact and in the melon, rather than after you’ve taken it out in chunks

    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.

    A two part image showing the watermelon with the top edge cut to shape.

    Clean up the Edges

    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 red stripe design!

    Carve the Red Sections

    In the areas that you want red, VERY CAREFULLY carve out the white part of the rind to expose the red flesh behind it.

    The top edge of the watermelon has been bevelled towards the inner edge.

    You may want to do this in several small passes, rather than taking out deep chunks.

    Serve Your Independence Day Watermelon!

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

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

    For ours, we used watermelon, red grapes, strawberries, cherries, peeled/sliced pears, blueberries and blackberries.

    Set it out and enjoy!

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue 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
    Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl
    Canadian Watermelon Bowl
    Halloween Themed Shooters
    How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro
    Stars and Stripes Watermelon Bowl
    Tornado Smashed Gingerbread House

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue fruit.

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

    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!

    An Independence Day Watermelon Bowl. It is carved with a stars and stripes design, and filled with red, white, and blue fruit.

    Related posts:

    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. Caladium Leaf Watermelon Bowl 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! 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! A large muffaletta sandwich: A full loaf of bread, stuffed with many layers of meats, cheeses, and olive salad. Muffaletta Sandwich

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Karen O'Lawdhavemercy

      June 13, 2012 at 8:01 am

      5 stars
      Totally Awesome! 🙂

      Reply
    2. Crystal L DeFrate

      June 13, 2012 at 11:46 pm

      5 stars
      Brilliant and inspirational, like the artist herself. 🙂

      Reply
    3. Toni Esser

      July 02, 2013 at 8:14 pm

      5 stars
      Brilliant and Beautiful!!!! We will need to try this one 🙂 Thank you for sharing your talent.

      Reply
    4. Maria

      July 07, 2013 at 10:55 am

      5 stars
      Just wanted to let you know I made your watermelon, albeit - not as good! But I blogged about it here: http://craftycre8tions.blogspot.com/2013/07/4th-of-july-watermelon.html

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        July 07, 2013 at 7:16 pm

        Thank you so much for sharing! It looks great!

        Reply
    5. Culinary Supplies Inc.

      June 28, 2014 at 7:36 am

      5 stars
      Very beautiful...perfect for the 4th of July coming!

      Reply
    6. Melinda

      June 12, 2015 at 11:20 am

      5 stars
      BEAUTIFUL, LOVE IT!! I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO TRY THIS ONE!

      Reply

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