With three weeks left in this year’s Watermelon Carving Contest, I thought I’d check in to see how everyone’s carvings are shaping up. We’ve received plenty of great submissions so far, but we haven’t received “hundreds and hundreds” of entries, so if you’re sitting out because you think the competition is too intense, I’d definitely suggest rethinking that stance. (I’d also remind you that the first 25 entries AUTOMATICALLY receive a Dexas Watermelon cutting board – a $20 value!)
To help inspire you, I’ve gathered four of my own carvings below. It should be noted that I created most of these during my first year of watermelon carving (with the exception of the basket), which means you don’t need a lot of experience to create halfway decent carvings capable of winning some of our carving contest prizes.
For more details about the contest, including specific rules and entry details, check out the 2013 Watermelon Carving Contest webpage. And for more inspiration and ideas for carvings, check out the “Carvings” page of the National Watermelon Promotion Board website.
The watermelon T-Rex was the third carving I ever created, and one of my favorites. As you can see, it’s a relatively simple creation. Definitely a good one for first-time carvers.
I created this shark soon after the T-Rex (I guess I like carving mean-looking animals with sharp teeth). Like the T-Rex, this one was also a simple carving. If you’re considering something like this for your carving contest entry, I suggest adding some decoration around the shark (blue Jell-O, perhaps?) to make it look like the shark is coming out of the water instead of coming out of your countertop.
The Watermelon Carving Contest includes a “Best Watermelon Basket” category, and this basket would make a worthy entry. I made this three years ago (it was my very first watermelon carving) and it’s probably a little too simple to be a strong contender, but it’s a nice first attempt.
This watermelon mouth was one of the more bizarre carvings I created last summer. This would make a nice entry in the “Funniest Carving” category of the contest. If I were entering this in that category, I’d probably add a few extra touches of humor. Maybe some eyes, ears or a wig. Or maybe a tongue carved out of the red flesh inside the watermelon.