Fruit Tree

I love Pinterest! (Let me know if you want an invite) It is an awesome site that you can lose yourself in for hours looking for new ideas, pinning your own ideas, and looking for new spins on traditional things. I've gotten some great photo ideas, entertaining and decorating ideas and, of course, holiday ideas! We had a holiday kickoff weekend (more on that to come) and Kelly hosted brunch. I wanted to do something a little different than a regular fruit tray and found a clever idea one night while on a "pinning spree". A holiday fruit tree. It was so easy! A little time consuming if you pick a big cone as the base but well worth it.

Holiday Fruit Tree

1 container of strawberries

1lb green grapes

4 kiwi sliced

1 mango

1 pineapple (skim removed, and sliced, keep one slice with the core intact)

1 Styrofoam cone

Chocolate (optional)

Melt chocolate and dip half the strawberries. Keep the leaves on the tops of the berries. I put a toothpick in each berry and then set them on a block to set so that the were upright.

Wrap the cone with wax or parchment paper. Don't use tissue paper because the moisture from the fruit will wet the tissue and just make a mess.

Begin the fill in the tree by inserting a toothpick into each piece of fruit and then inserting that into the cone. I started with the big pieces and then used the grapes to fill in the holes. I also cut the mango with a small gingerbread cookie cutter to create some visual interest. Use a star cookie cutter on the piece of pineapple with the core intact to create a top for your tree.

Next time I make this I will dip a few grapes in white chocolate and cover them with coloured sugar to look like lights on the tree. This was a huge crowd pleaser!

I think I'll make another one Christmas Eve to have for Christmas morning. Austin had a great time helping me and the bonus was that he ate fruit and had fun doing it!