For Easter I was tasked with bringing a fruit salad for our family dinner. I like fruit salad, but I often feel like a large bowl of cut up fruit needs a little something, maybe a bit of sugar or honey, some fresh mint is always a nice addition and I could certainly mix in some yogurt. This year, however I had just started a new meal plan and I wanted to keep the fruit free from extra calories. I had never made fruit flowers or tried to create a fruit display so I know if I can pull this off, then anyone can have equally great results.

I have been a fan of Mason jars as décor and serving dishes for a long time now. They are rugged and hold up to abuse. They can go into boiling water and into the freezer and they do not break easily. For these bouquets, that would require transport, canning jars worked out very well. Also, I had plenty on hand and could make several small bouquets to put around the table. I started with creating the concepts so I would know what fruit to buy and how much. Grapes gave me a good base for the “soil” and would hold the skewers of fruit solidly, so they made a great foundation. Slices of watermelon added beautiful color and pineapple worked well in slices, also. I chose not to use apples or bananas because they oxidize to quickly and the color would not look good, but the apples would be an option if you spritzed them or soaked them with lemon water. Strawberries made the perfect rose.

I added blueberries, blackberries and raspberries as accents and I specifically made one flower with loads of blackberries to reserve for my dad…he’s a big fan of blackberries!

I was not sure how these would go over and WOW…they were a huge hit. As a crafter, I find that many times I am hard on myself and my work and look for perfection, but my family only saw beautiful displays of fruit and took great joy in eating them up.  Lesson learned…just make them, they will be loved!!