One Hundred Dollars a Month

{I made this edible arrangement last year and brought it to my parents home for Christmas.  I decided to re-post it today because edible arrangements are really easy to make and are so much nicer than flowers}.

I was thinking I would be able to whip this up for under $15…But it’s December. Translation: No Local Fruit.

Here’s what I bought:

2 Pineapples $1.98
2 Cantaloupes $4.40
1 Honey Dew Melon $3.47
4 Apples FREE
1 Orange BARTERED
4 Bananas .68 cents
4lbs. Grapes $6.99
2lbs. Strawberries $7.98 (Major Rip-Off!)
Bamboo Skewers $1.49
Green Floral Foam $1.50
————————————-
$28.49

I made a few mistakes…I only needed 1 pineapple, and 1 cantaloupe…not 2 each.

I also only needed 1lb of the strawberries, 1/2 the grapes and the bananas were a no go.

Also… I forgot I needed kale… So the poor Handsome Husband had to run to the store for me rather early on Christmas Eve… Okay…Here we go…

STEP #1 Find a suitable container…
Several years ago I lifted this from my parents house…
And it’s been in my bathroom ever since…Originally I was looking for a red container…
But this was FREE…
And hey…
I knew my Mom WOULD LOVE IT…
After all…I did swipe it from her house…

First things first, lay out your fruit…
Size it up…Find an inspirational picture on the internet…And get started.

Stuff green floral foam in container a secure it in place (I used rocks)

Now prepare your fruit.

To make melon spears simply slice the melon in half, then into 8 – 10 sections. Cut off the rind and trim the guts.

Do the same with the honey melon…

Spear your fruit with bamboo skewers…

Wash the strawberries and lay them on a towel to dry…

Skew the grapes…

Originally I had The Handsome Husband trim the sides of the pineapple…

But then we figured out it was completely unnecessary…

Use some sort of flower cookie cutter…

I borrowed this one from my neighbor Girly Girl…

Use a melon ball cutter thing to cut half circles out of the extra cantaloupe.

Place some floral foam in an extra container and secure it in place…
You’ll need this for the fruit you intend to dip in chocolate…

Skew the berries…

Practice with a not so perfect strawberry…
I used dipping chocolate that I found at the grocery store in the produce section.

Dipping bananas proved difficult… I think they were too moist.

We also dipped the apples slices in white chocolate…

And a few marshmallows…

The Girl Who Thinks She’s Bird added a few sprinkles for a festive look.

You don’t want to lay your chocolate dipped creations on a flat surface…
Otherwise you’ll have flat spots…
This is why you need a second container…

After I had assembled all the fruit on skewers… I stuffed the bottom with kale.

I also realized that I needed to raise the center of the bouquet… So I built up the center with extra floral foam.

When I ran out of skewers I started to fill the top of the container with kale leaves… and also added a few leaves here and there in the center to hide any exposed skewers…

And that was it!

A helpful serving tip: Place a tall glass next to the fruit bouquet for the fruitless skewers.