DIY Fresh Fruit Arrangement

So we've all seen those wonderfully beautiful arrangements of fresh fruit in a great container that you can pay an arm & a leg for to give as a gift, right? Well, a few years ago, I decided that I'd just make my own! I needed an original, healthy Father's Day gift and I thought this would be a big surprise. (Dad loved it btw) Luckily, I took pictures of the process to share~but I'm just now remembering to share them!


Supplies needed:

Lots of fresh fruit
(I used strawberries, grapes, pineapple, honeydew melon, & cantaloupe. I even cheated & bought the pre-cut tray of fruits at the grocery store! This doesn't have to be time-consuming!)

Note: Try to steer clear of mushy fruits that won't want to stay up on the skewers or fruit like bananas and apples that will immediately turn brown.



Fruit Dip (optional)
I snagged a pack of Marzetti's chocolate dip in the produce section)

Bamboo skewers

A container of your choice

Weights to hold container
I used those glass decorative things--just poured them in & it added enough to hold the container up against the weight of the fruit.

A piece of styrofoam (you can cut it to fit your container)

Cookie cutters, sharp knife, cutting board

Directions:
1. Start by weighting your container. Then add styrofoam on top. I filled in around the sides of the styrofoam with the weights as well.

2. Alternate fruit pieces on the skewers, leaving enough room at the bottom to stick it into the styrofoam.

3. Cut some fruit into shapes using the cookie cutters (or freehand it with your knife, if you're feeling it.)

4. I covered the styrofoam with something so that the fruit didn't touch it, but honestly, I cannot remember what! Sorry...like I said, I made this a few years ago.

That's it. Present it with pride, knowing that you paid half the price and you made it yourself!