Fruity 4th of July Centerpiece

This fruity 4th of July Centerpiece is easy to make and is the perfect touch for your Independence Day celebrations.

With Independence Day just around the corner, fresh produce looks even better in a celebratory centerpiece! This fruity Uncle Sam’s Hat idea from the Marzetti® brand is the perfect centerpiece for your 4th of July celebration, and the fresh fruits and veggies make it that much sweeter! It’s a great DIY project for entertaining or a fun activity for the kids to join in on.

As I said, this 4th of July Centerpiece is so easy to make. All you will need are a few simple ingredients, including watermelon, starfruit (or pineapple), strawberries, blueberries, melon, asparagus, mint, along with toothpicks. Watch this fun little video from Marzetti® brand to see how easy this festive hat comes together.

Make sure to like and share the video on Facebook because the Marzetti® brand is donating to an awesome organization, National Military Family Association, for every like or share (up to 5,000) of the stop-motion video. National Military Family Association is a program that supports and stands behind service members, their spouses and their children.

Ready to get going on this fruity celebration hat? This helpful how-to video from Marzetti® brand shows the easy step-by -step process and the festive finished product. It’s easy to follow along. Just pause as you go.

To begin, cut your watermelon at its widest point, just above the center. About an inch down, cut through the watermelon again to make the circular rim of the hat. Cut several more one inch layers to use for the bulk of the hat. Use a round cup or piece of tupperware to make even circles in the center flesh of the watermelon rings. Once you’ve cut several of these circles, stack them on top of each other on the wide watermelon ring (the first one cut that still has the outer green part). The centerpiece should look like the beginnings of a top hat, feel free to push skewers through the top to the bottom to secure it.

Next, use toothpicks to secure strawberry halves to the sides of the top hat in evenly spaced vertical stripes, but leave about two inches between the bottom of the stripes and the base of the hat centerpiece. You’ll need plenty of strawberries for decorating and snacking! Cut your melon in half and use a melon baller to get plenty of melon balls about the size of the strawberry halves (about as many too). Place these in vertical stripes in-between the strawberry stripes using toothpicks, again leaving room at the bottom for the star decoration.

Next, cut even slices of the starfruit (see below for an easy starfruit substitute) so the star shape is showing and secure these using toothpicks to the base of the top hat, directly beneath the stripes. Fill in the blank spaces between the stars with blueberries. You can stick the blueberries to the watermelon using dental grip since it can adhere to something wet. Cover the top of the hat with blueberries as well. Using asparagus or something with a similar shape like rhubarb, make produce “candles” or fireworks by poking a few through the top of the hat and sticking mint leaves through the top of the asparagus like little flames. So cute!

Be sure to reserve the extra fruit from this project to make a colorful fruit platter to serve with Marzetti® Cream Cheese Fruit Dip. A festive centerpiece, plus a fruit platter—you’re set to go for this patriotic holiday! For $1 off any Marzetti® Fruit or Dip, print this coupon.

A few 4th of July Centerpiece notes:

• If starfruit is hard to find, you may substitute pineapple “stars.” Peel a pineapple, then slice into 1/2-inch thick slices. Using a paring knife or 2-inch star cookie cutter, cut a star shape out of the center of each slice. It’s a great way to use the otherwise discarded pineapple core.
• I broke toothpicks in half instead of using dental cream for the blueberries.
• Watermelon will tend to leak, I placed a couple of folded paper towels under my “hat” before assembling to help absorb water.

I have been invited to participate in a Marzetti® ambassador program. This post is sponsored by Marzetti and product has been provided by them. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own.