Giant Citrus Fruit Decor

What could be more inviting on a hot summer day than a cool drink of lemonade or a cocktail mixed with lime? Bring the tastes of summer to your home decor with these giant citrus slices! This project is an easy way to use up those oddly-shaped wood scraps, and give a pop of color to your mantel or a drink stand!

I’m Vineta from The Handyman’s Daughter, and I’m back this month with this fun project that is perfect for your summer decor now that the patriotic holidays are over.

Materials:

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• Scrap wood at least 6″ x 12″ (Mine are made from 2 x 12 pieces I cut wrong when I built my hexagon side table. Oops!)
• Jigsaw or scroll saw
• Sander and sandpaper
• Tack cloth
• Flat craft brush
• White, yellow and green craft paint

Optional: Silhouette cutting machine

Instructions:

Start by digging through your scrap pile for wider pieces that don’t have a lot of knots or dents. You can use 3/4″ plywood, 1x or 2x pieces (as long as they’re at least 6″ wide and 12″ long.) Give the face of the wood a good sanding.

Trace a large half circle onto your wood with a pencil. A dinner plate makes an excellent template. Trace a second circle inside the first, about a quarter of an inch away. This will be the rind of the slice.

If you have a Silhouette machine, you can use this cut file to cut out a template in the shape of the segments. If not, you can google citrus slice graphic and use one of those images as your template. Or create a similar template by cutting a rounded triangle out of paper and tracing it four times onto the scrap of wood. Don’t forget that little piece in the center that connects them together.

Use a jigsaw or scroll saw to cut out your slice shape.

Sand the sides and round over the edges with a sander.

Remove any dust from the surface with a tack cloth or damp rag.

Using a flat craft brush, start filling in the pith parts of the slice with white paint. (It will probably take two coats to get good coverage.)

Once the white paint is dry, fill in the segments and outside edge. The yellow lemon may need two coats.

But you might get away with only one coat for the lime green slice.

When everything is dry, they’re ready to display! These giant citrus slices are the perfect decoration next to the drinks at your summer barbecue.

They add a fun pop of color to any decor!

Want to add more summer fruit? You can find my tutorial for how to make watermelon decor over at The Handyman’s Daughter!

Until next time!

 ~ view more of Vineta’s projects ~