Sparkle Fruit

Let me just say I'm not one for fake fruit on a table.  I think my aversion to fake fruit comes from being a child in someone's home (my mom never had fake fruit) and picking up a jucy apple only to realize it was fake.  It was a real let down for me.  I always thought "why put fruit on the table if you can't eat it?"

But here I am, fake fruit.  These get my the home decorating stamp of approval because they don't look real at all.  There is no mistaking these fruit for anything but fake.

My husband had me in tears of laughter last night when we started to talk about how fake the fruit really looked.  In particular, the fact that the pomegranate was way too small compared to the rest of the fruit.  He was totally right, the pomegranate was tiny.  The cherries were bigger than the pomegranate.  OMG he literally had me crying into my wine.  It's moments like that which remind me why I love my man.  

Anyway...
here is how I "sparkled" my fruit.  
(If you prefer to go with Martha's instructions they are here)

Notice the pomegranate as compared to the pear, wtf?

Supplies:
1. small paint brush
2. glue (I did use the Martha's glue because I'm label faithful like that)
3. some small trays
4. little container for glue
5. fake fruit
6. glitter (I used three colors, but if I did it again I would only use the clear or white)
7. newspaper (to cover your work area, it gets messy)

Sorry about the bad photo quality.  I'm still learning.

Step 1: Mix a little water in with the glue.  I think I could have been a little more generous with this step.  Martha recommends doing this to thin out the glitter, she is right, less glitter is better.  (I say "Martha", but I know she has tons of people who help her and do much of the work in her magazines, so I do mean "Martha and all her helpers," like Santa)

Step 2: Coat the fruit with the watered down glue.

Step 3: Sprinkle on the glitter.  In this step I tried Martha's suggestion to use a spoon, but also used the glitter straight from the jar.  Both worked well, but the spoon gave more control. 

Step 4: Put sparkly fruit out to dry.  I had some toruble with the fruit sticking to the newspaper.  In the future I would put down some wax paper to dry the fruit.

Step 5: Clean up.  As I said this process is quite messy.  One tip I can give is to use the glitter tray Martha sells.  I promise you she is not paying me to say this, but I bought them, and was happy to find that they have a little channel in one corner so you can pour the glitter back into the jars.  How cool is that?

As I said in my last post, I much prefer the fruit that only has a little sparkle and is not full out glittery (is that a word "glittery"?)  I did some fruit completely covered with glitter, and some just dusted, the dusted was better.  I also like the ones with the white glitter the best.  The other colors look a little TOO fake.

Once again, notice pomegranate next to the rest of the fruit, do these people even know what a pomegranate is?

Fake fruit may baffle the little children, but they sure make my dining table look more festive.