Carved Fruit Decorations

In the run-up to Christmas, getting crafty is something I love! In 2014 I published my book Make Your Own Christmas Tree Decorations (which you can now get for £8 in my shop) and decided to share a linocut inspired Christmas activity! I chose the Carved Fruit Decorations as it is a fun way to use your linocutting tools on a different surface. You can choose any citrus fruit to carve into and use a good selection of your linocutting tools to make different marks and shapes – just as you would with a block of lino!

Here’s how to do it…

Carved Fruit Decorations

What you will need:

• Limes or other citrus fruits, preferably with darker skins.
• Linocutting tools or craft knife.
• A marker pen, preferably a permanent one.
• Ribbon or string for hanging

How to carve!

1. Select a fruit with a smooth dark skin. The darker the skin, the more the pith will stand out.
2. Using a marker pen, draw onto the skin a design that you would like to carve.
   

   

3. With a linocutting tool begin to carve your lime. Work away from your fingers and take small; strokes just a few millimetres deep and wide. If your an avid printmaker (like me!) you may have a range of tools available to make different sized lines. If not, a craft knife can be used instead to carve your marks.
4. As with traditional pomanders, when the carving is complete, leave them in a warm airing cupboard to dry out for several weeks or even in a cool oven/aga for several days.
5. With the carved fruits, you can either wrap a ribbon around the middle to hang it or just glue on some ribbon and gold string at the top, leaving a loop for hanging in the tree!

Further Suggestions..

Once you have mastered carving into fruit, why not try traditional pomanders (see my book for info on how to do this) or even combing the two? You can also decorate the pomanders with small nuts and seeds glued on and varnished to preserve them. Or try different citrus fruits such as grapefruit or lemon for different colours and shapes.

Enjoy this fun Christmas project and have a Merry Christmas!

Susan