Fruit and veggie vases Fruit and veggie vases (November 21, 2003)

This year the dining table centerpiece can be the least of your worries. The reason: A simple centerpiece can be created with fruits, vegetables and single flowers.

Materials for one fruit or veggie vase

One acorn squash, apple, bell pepper, eggplant, pear, persimmon or orange -- all are available at the grocery store

Sharp pointed knife

Pointed vegetable peeler

Flowers*

One or two stems of fall foliage as accent

One water tube (water tubes are available wherever you buy your flowers or at craft stores)

Floral clippers

*Alstroemeria, chrysanthemums, freesia, gerbera daisies, iris, lilies, lisianthus, miniature spray roses, hybrid tea roses, seasonal berries and fall leaves all work well.

Directions

1. With the pointed knife, make a small slit on the top of the fruit or vegetable. Then with the pointed vegetable peeler, carve a deep round hole in the veggie or fruit for the water tube.

2. Fill the water tube with water and replace the plastic cap back on the tube. Now insert the water tube into the hole that was made in the fruit or vegetable.

3. Cut the flowers at varying heights. One "vase" may hold a couple of tall flowers, while another may hold just a single bloom cut extremely short. Of course the flowers are inserted into the water tubes in each fruit or vegetable.

Note: On the dining table, try fruit and veggie vases on a footed cake plate or on a utilitarian tray. Fruit and veggie vases can also be festive decorating accents by the bedside, bathroom or lined up on a window.

How to make gourd votives

To complement fruit and veggie vases are small hollowed-out gourds with votive tea lights inside. Now your dining table can sparkle with ease.

Cut the stem of the miniature pumpkin. Then in the top of the pumpkin, with permanent marker, trace around a votive tea light. This serves as a circle pattern for cutting a hole the size of the tea light. Now simply cut around the circle to make a hole in the center of the miniature pumpkin. Scoop out the pulp and seeds and then set the votive candle inside.

If the votive tea light sinks too deeply into the mini-pumpkin, prop it up with a piece of dry floral foam or Styrofoam.

-- Jill Slater