my birthday falls over the holidays, and for the last few years, i’ve asked for an edible arrangement instead of the usual birthday cake. i think by the time the holidays hit, i’m overloaded with the offers of sugary treats. i also love how we can pick away at the fruit over a couple of days, and the way it’s arranged is cute and makes it perfect for a special occasion like a birthday pour moi ;)

this year, my daughter asked for an edible arrangement for her birthday. and while she still got a cake for all her guests (thanks to gramma for the wonderful cake!), i decided to try and make my own fruit arrangement for her.

i washed all the fruit, then cut a cabbage to fit into the bottom of a basket. this was the base into which i arranged the skewers of fruit.

i loaded up the skewers with fruit (just as you would for kebabs) and used different lengths of skewers to shape the arrangement. i was making it up as i went, and honestly, it was so easy and fun. and if it wasn’t a surprise, i would have involved the kids in the process too (just watch the sharp end of those skewers!).

once all the skewers were in, i covered the cabbage base with some blackberries and blueberries.

i cut out the numbers for the birthday out of pineapple and that was pretty much it…

it made a nice centrepiece…

and everything (minus the cabbage) got gobbled up pretty quickly.