For a summer BBQ I volunteered to bring watermelon.

But why bring an ordinary watermelon when you can bring a watermelon turtle? And why bring a watermelon turtle when you can bring a Teenage Mutant Ninja Watermelon Turtle?

Supplies

Watermelon
Knife
Channel knife
Melon baller
Marking device (marker, pen, etc)
Basic idea of what a hexagon looks like
Tooth picks or wooden skewers
Container or bowl
Optional (for TMNT)
- Blue acrylic paint or nail polish
- White acrylic paint or nail polish
- Plastic swords (the kind used in fancy alcohol drinks)

Step 1: Slice the Watermelon

Using a large knife, slice a small one inch piece off the intended bottom. This will help the watermelon sit flat and not roll off the table. Put the piece aside for later.

Now slice the watermelon in half. I opt for less than half, so the bottom acts as a large bowl and the decorative top is slightly smaller.

Step 2: Melon Ball

Hope you planned ahead. This part seems to take forever.

Use the melon baller to make watermelon spheres from both halves of the watermelon. Store them in another container during this long, tedious process.

Step 3: Engraving the Watermelon Shell

Use the channel knife to scrape away the watermelon flesh to make a horizontal line around both shell halves, about an inch from the edge.

Scrape away vertical lines from the horizontal line to the edge of the shell. This part is purely decorative. I used a dry erase marker to help layout the template for engraving the top shell. Unfortunately I didn't have a hexagonal pattern printed out at the time, as forgot to offset each additional hexagon. Reference a print out, so you don't make the same mistake. Use the channel knife to scrape away the pattern you drew (which is hopefully more hexagonal than my pictured example).

Step 4: Making the Head and Hands/flippers

Using the piece you set aside earlier, trace and cut out pieces to be used for the head and the four flippers.

For a normal turtle, you can scrape some of the flesh off the head to make eyes; or use tooth picks to attach blue berry eyes. For a better Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (TMNT) do the following: Using blue arcylic paint or nail polish paint the arm/foot bands on the flippers. Using blue arcylic paint or nail polish paint the face mask onto the head portion, but leave circles for the eyes if possible. Using white acrylic paint or nail polish paint the eyes on to the face mask.

Why blue? If you're using decorative swords on the hands, that's Leonardo and his mask and bands are blue.

Step 5: Assembly

If making the TMNT version, use tooth picks to connect the plastic swords to the hands. (I suppose you could use a glue gun?).

Use tooth picks or wooden skewers to attach the flippers and head to the top shell.

Fill the bottom half shell with the watermelon balls. Carefully place the top shell over the bottom. Actually you should probably place the top off to the side, so the watermelon balls are more accessible. Otherwise you may have a bunch of left overs as everyone seems to avoid disrupting the piece of art. The kids at the party were admiring Leonardo for quite some time. The adults frequently asked who brought it, and where they got it from.