Watermelons, turnips, pineapples and many other fruits and vegetables can be carved and combined into either elegantly simple or very elaborate center pieces or accents for your picnic table or indoor party decorations.

The art of carving foods is an Eastern custom that has been adopted by creative food preparers around the world.

In Thailand and Japan food carving is considered part of the presentation of the meal. The stunning designs that can be created makes the food the center of attention when you serve your guests. No need to worry about what else is on the table!

Some of the more elaborate carvings can take hours to get just right, but practice makes it go faster and soon you'll find yourself designing your own patterns for watermelons, radishes, and any fruit or vegetable that can hold it's form when carved.

If you've never seen carved fruits or veggies and you're thinking typical Halloween pumpkin carving - check out some of these resources and be amazed:

These are simple carved watermelon fruit salad serving bowls:

If you need some more inspiration, visit these sites to learn about carving fruit and vegetables and see some amazingly intricate examples. Many come with simple to follow instructions that make it possible for you to copy them:

Carving Room - Patterns with instructions in English-Japanese

Patterns for Special Occasions

Watermelon Carving Rose

As you become more practiced, you'll find that any special occasion is just right showing off your new-found carving skill - lending itself particularly well to a Survivor Party, family pool party or Hawaiian Luau party theme.

Due to incredible interest in the topic, Chiff.com has also prepared a special Web supplement to this page, Fruit Carving for Beginners that offers more than 30 fast, easy fruit carving projects in a downloadable e-book available for US$10.95.

Enjoy!