August 31 marks the deadline for the first National Watermelon Carving Contest and I wanted to send out one last reminder to send those entries in!

To recap, I’m looking for your best looking watermelon basket. Nothing fancy, just whatever you come up with. Send me a photo of your finished carving AND a photo of you with the carving to watermelonexperts@gmail.com. I haven’t received a TON of entries yet, which means the chance of your entry being named one of the four finalists and winning the grand prize is pretty good. (Seriously.)

What’s the grand prize, you ask? It’s the “Ultimate Watermelon Carving Kit”! Check it out here and feel free to check out more complete contest rules here. Good luck!

UP NEXT: Spotted in the grocery store

Just checking in to see how everyone’s watermelon carvings are coming for the National Watermelon Carving Contest. If you’re not familiar with the contest, here’s a recap in 50 words or less:

Carve a watermelon basket (nothing fancy, maybe something like this). Send photos to watermelonexperts@gmail.com before August 31. I’ll pick four of the best. Readers will check them out and pick their favorite here on the blog in August. The winner will receive a prize which will be announced next week. Official rules can be found here.

By now, you should at least have an idea of what type of basket you want to carve. If not, don’t sweat it, just check out some of the designs on the National Watermelon Promotion Board website for inspiration.

As some of you might know, July is National Watermelon Month. As national food months go, National Watermelon Month, for me, is right up there with National Meat Month (January), National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month (November) and National Ice Cream Month (also July… yes, July will be a good month).

To celebrate National Watermelon Month, I’ve decided to use the What About Watermelon blog to host the “National Watermelon Carving Contest.” The rules are pretty simple and the prize is pretty nice, too (but more on that later… maybe).

All you need to do, between now and August 31, is send me photos of your  best watermelon carving. And when I say “carving,” I don’t mean those amazingly intricate carvings you’ve seen online. I’m talking about carved and hollowed out watermelons in the shape of cars, animals or just plain baskets and used to hold fruit salad. Sort of like the one above or  the one I made and wrote about previously on What About Watermelon.

Tips and ideas for carvings (feel free to make one of these) can be found on the National Watermelon Promotion Board website. At the end of August I’ll choose the four best carvings and post them here on What About Watermelon for a public vote in early September.

And now the good part. The winner of EACH category, as determined by the votes of watermelon fans across the nation, will receive… a very cool prize that I still need to figure out (anyone have any ideas?). Not bad for a little bit of work with your favorite fruit, huh? Throughout July and August, I’ll post reminders about the contest and some carving tips. The rest is up to you!

SEMI-OFFICIAL RULES

1. All carvings must be original creations, carved either by the person submitting the entry or with a little help from friends and family.

2. All entries must be accompanied by TWO photos: One photo of the finished carving (a few different photos from different angles is preferred) and one photo of the finished carving with the person submitting the entry. This part is important, so don’t forget to get both photos!

3. All entries must be emailed to watermelonexperts@gmail.com before midnight on August 31.

4. Have fun! This part is also important. It doesn’t matter what your finished carving looks like; just send the picture,  because it might be one of the final four chosen by me or an honorable mention featured here on the blog!