From Easy Art to a Sweet Treat

Spooky, silly or symbolic, carved pumpkins are an essential ingredient to any Halloween celebration. This year, scare up some special fun for your party with a wicked watermelon carving, instead—but don’t stop there.

After crafting your watermelon into an artful mummy, take advantage of the healthy, immune system supporting qualities of the lycopene leader among fresh produce. At 92 percent water, as well as an excellent source of vitamins A and C, watermelon is a hydrating post-art snack. 

Carving a creative design into a watermelon is a simple way to kick off the festivities and requires only a handful of common tools. Add a twinkling candle to make a fantastically frightful centerpiece. Or fill it with a fresh fruit salad or salsas for a more functional, practical approach. 

To take advantage of all a watermelon has to offer—outside of the fun carving—try frosted, frozen watermelon balls. This fun, simple recipe make it easy to incorporate a healthy snack after all your hard work carving up a Halloween masterpiece. 

Find more recipes, carving patterns and inspiration at Watermelon.org.

Carving Tips

• Prior to carving, read through all of the directions.
• Cuts are easiest when the watermelon is at room temperature. Once your handiwork is complete, chill the carving and contents before serving.
• After drawing your design on the rind, insert toothpicks in key places to guide your cuts.
• A sharp knife with a pointed tip makes the easiest, cleanest cuts. 
• Remove excess flesh in large pieces, when possible, to allow for easier melon ball or cube creation.
• Use round toothpicks or skewers to attach pieces to your design, as flat toothpicks are not strong enough to bear the weight or stand up to the thickness of the rind.

Mummy

Supplies and Tools:

• Oval or round seedless watermelon
• Cutting board
• Kitchen knife 
• Small bowl
• Dry erase marker
• Paring knife 
• Melon baller, fluted or regular
• Scoop
• Assorted peelers
• Cheesecloth
• Straight pin
• Battery-operated candle or light
• Candy eyeballs or blueberries

• Wash watermelon under cool running water and pat dry.
• On cutting board, place watermelon on its side and use kitchen knife to cut off 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch from bottom (end opposite stem), being careful not to cut too deep into white part of rind. 
• Cut 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch from stem end to create opening large enough to fit small bowl.
• Using dry erase marker, draw eyes, nose and mouth, along with wavy slits around carving to let more light flow through. Use paring knife to cut out design, being sure to cut through to red fruit.
• Use fluted or regular melon baller to hollow out inside of watermelon. Use scoop to remove excess watermelon.
• Peel green rind off outside of watermelon. (Tip: Different peelers work well for different parts of the watermelon, depending on how flat or round the melon is.)
• Wrap thin strips of cheesecloth around mummy carving and secure with straight pin, if needed.
• Put battery-operated candle or light into carving. Fit small bowl into top of carving and trim away excess rind to make bowl fit securely. Fill bowl with melon balls and attach candy or blueberries to make eyes.

Frosted, Frozen Watermelon Balls 

Servings: 35-40

•     1 small watermelon
•     1 package (3 oz.) watermelon or other red flavor gelatin dessert 

• Using melon baller, scoop out 35-40 small watermelon balls. Place on paper towels and set aside.
• Pour gelatin into shallow bowl. One-by-one, gently drop watermelon balls into bowl, roll around, take out and place on plate covered with paper towel. Repeat until all gelatin is used. 
• Place plate of frosted watermelon balls in freezer. Allow at least 2 hours to make sure they are completely frozen. Remove from freezer and let sit a few minutes before eating. 

Note: To serve with toothpicks, place toothpicks in before freezing to aid in serving.