Tag Archives: art

How to Decorate a Table With Carved Pineapples

Posted on by

The great thing about pineapples is that they can be carved into inexpensive centerpieces, serving bowls or even drink cups. You can also use a carved out pineapple as a dish for serving dips or as a tropical inspired flower vase.

One of the most basic of serving or presentation vessels that can be made out of a pineapple is the classic Pineapple Boat. To make a pineapple boat you simply make sure that all discolored or misshapen leaves are removed from the pineapple. Do not remove the top of the pineapple as this is part of the effect.

You then cut the pineapple in half vertically and then cut gently inside of the pineapple to remove the pineapple fruit pulp. You can then use it as a vessel to hold a display of fruit. A nice idea is to fill the pineapple boat with fruit skewers that also include pineapple. A pineapple boat can also be loaded with any type of dip or used as an ice bucket on which to display cold shrimp or seafood that needs to be kept cold. Pineapple boats also make nice holders for home-made gelatos or ice cream.

Pineapple bowls are also very easy to make. To create one simply remove the top and the bottom of the pineapple so it sits flats. You then hollow the pineapple out to create a bowl. You can then fill this bowl with anything you like. Consider putting a candle or a single floating flower inside the bowl. The pineapple bowl also looks good filled with fruit chunks, fruit soups or sorbets.

Pineapple flowers are also a common table-top decoration in fruit decoration circles. Slice the pineapple horizontally into ¼ inch slices. Then use a flower shaped cookie cutter to cut flowers out of the disc shaped piece of fruit. Skewer these flowers on the end of long spikes. You then use a melon baller to carve balls out of a melon and use those as the center of the flower. A maraschino cherry also can serve duty as the pineapple flower center as well.

Another thing you can do is make a pineapple lantern to light up your next after-dusk barbecue or patio party. You make one very much in the same way that you would a Halloween lantern out of a pumpkin. Cut off the top of the pineapple and use a sharp knife to remove it’s core. Cut a face into the front of the fruit and then secure the top back on the fruit with a few toothpicks.

How to Decorate Your Lawn with Pink Flamingos

Posted on by

Plastic pink flamingos are very tacky but also very cool. It is one of those lawn ornaments that are very much associated with American iconic kitsch. The pink flamingo has been around about sixty years and ever since they were invented there has always been debate about whether or not they were eyesores.

Pink Flamingos were originally made by a company called Union Products that started making them in 1946. It was part of their “Plastics for the Lawn” series. The company did not just make flamingos. They also made ducks, dogs and frogs. These first flamingos were not three dimensional. They were more like “signs” with flamingos painted on them.

In 1956 a company in Massachusetts called the Leominster hired a designer named Don Featherstone who figured out how to make the figurines into three dimensional free standing sculptures. The flamingos were based on figures found in photos in National Geographic. The original legs were wooden but when they proved to be too expensive they were replaced by metal legs. They were very popular ornaments in the 1950s and today, whether fixed in your garden or on your wall as an object of art, they are considered to be part of retro-chic.

One of characteristics of the pink flamingo is that it is hot pink. Lurid colors were popular in the fifties but there was a reaction against plastics and false things in the sixties that made the pink flamingos less popular.

Decorating with them me simple and nowadays they are easy to get through mail order and in stores. If you want an authentic Flamingo buy one that has Don Featherstone’s signature impressed under the tail. A true pink flamingo has a yellow beak with a black tip and authentic flamingo sets are sold in twos. The pair should include one with a long neck and one with a shorter neck. The legs should be wire. If you are buying a single flamingo or one with an orange beak or wooden leg you are not buying the official antique.

When it comes to Pink Flamingos just two will do. However quite a unique effect can be created by decorating your yard with an entire flock of them. You can also put them on your condo or apartment balcony. Pink flamingos also make a humorous statement at the office.

Some people like to dress up their pink Flamingos for the season. They dress them up in Santa Suits and also give them Reindeer Horns.