Instructions

1. Slice a bit of the green rind off the bottom to make it flat so it stays in place on the work surface.

2. Cut open the watermelon and scoop out the red flesh, if desired. For example, you might cut off the top one-third of the watermelon and scoop out the watermelon from the bottom two-thirds. The bottom part works well as a bowl for fruit salad, while the top piece can be carved into a decorative lid. Additionally, you can carve a decorative pattern on the watermelon bowl. Cut up the flesh you've scooped out to make or add to fruit salad.

3. Draw a design on the watermelon rind with a pencil. If you can't draw freehand, trace a printed design on a piece of parchment paper. Cut out the design on the parchment paper and stick it to the watermelon with toothpicks. Trace the design onto the watermelon and discard the parchment paper. Try stripes and polka dots to make an Easter egg design on a whole watermelon. Draw a turtle shell design on a top one-third piece of watermelon. You can even cut the watermelon in half between the two ends, using one end for a bowl and the other to carve a Viking helmet design.

4. Plan out the desired color for each part of the drawing. For an Easter egg design, for example, you might leave the background green and alternate red and white for the stripes or polka dots. A turtle shell design would be carved white to separate the various shapes within the turtle shell.

5. Carve along the lines with a channel knife, a specialized carving knife with a narrow, grooved blade that removes thin strips of the rind. This works much the same as a vegetable peeler, but the strips are thinner -- and it's much easier to control. The first pass with the channel knife removes the thin green rind to reveal the white flesh. Use this technique to make thin white strips, or repeat it over a wide area to make a large patch of white. If you want to make a green monogram inside a white circle background for example, carve along the perimeter of the circle and the outline of the letter before carving out all the green between the letter and circle perimeter.

6. Carve over some of your lines two or three times if you want the lines to be white but with greater depth. If you're carving a large set of teeth for example, carve the entire mouth area once to the same depth to make an all white background. Carve squares in the white area with an additional one or two passes with the channel knife, to define the teeth. The deeper channels act as the space between the teeth.

7. Pass over the carved lines repeatedly to carve away all the white flesh until you reach the red flesh. If you want to carve alternating white and red stripes, for example, carve each strip down to the white layer and carve every other stripe multiple times until you reach the red layer.

8. Remove just the green rind with the channel knife to form a circle. Scoop out the white flesh with a melon baller to make a round indentation in the watermelon. This technique is useful when carving a golf ball out of a spherical watermelon. Carve the entire outside of the watermelon until it's completely white. Carve out the golf ball dimples with a melon baller. Push the melon baller into the circle and scoop, while turning to remove a ball of white flesh.

9. Carve extra features from the larger parts of the rind you've removed. If you make a turtle shell out of the top one-third of the watermelon rind, you might only use a smaller oval of the whole rind piece. The parts of the rind that aren't used for the shell can be carved into a head, tail and four legs, and attached to the shell with toothpicks. Carve the basic shape with a paring knife; use the channel knife, if desired, to remove the green flesh.