Thanksgiving Turkey Shaped Fruit Salad

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  My Thanksgiving weekend was filled with family, good food, and shopping.  So in other words, I had a wonderful holiday!

I didn't host Thanksgiving Day dinner, instead we went to both my in-law's and my sister's house.  I of course brought a few dishes to each dinner.  My favorite Thanksgiving dish to make is my turkey shaped fruit salad.  The recipe is a little late to share for this year, or extremely early for next year's celebration depending on how you look at it, but I wanted to show off my creation!

DIY Newlywed's Famous Turkey Fruit Salad:
Fruit salad is a staple at any holiday dinner but to make it extra special for Thanksgiving, I created a turkey shaped pineapple fruit salad!  With a little creativity, this turkey shaped salad is easy to create and will make a big impact at any party.

To start, cut off the leafy top of a pineapple and one side.  The leafy top will become the turkey's feathers and the one side will become its wings.

With these pieces of the pineapple removed, lay the pineapple on its side and slice out the center of it as shown below.  Cut the removed chunk of pineapple into cubes to use as the edible portion of the fruit salad.

 Next, take the first side you removed and cut it in half length-wise.  This will create 2 turkey wings.  Secure these wings to the side of the pineapple (the turkey's body) with tooth picks.  Then, take the leafy top of the pineapple and attach it to the bottom of the pineapple (the turkey's back) with toothpicks. 

To make the face of the turkey, I sliced a pear in half lengthwise.  I added some chocolate chip eyes and a strawberry beak/gobbley part.  Attach the pear to the front of the turkey pineapple body with another toothpick and fill the pineapple with the fruit of your choice (and mini marshmallows if you have a sweet tooth like me). 

Since the inside of the pinapple isn't very large, I usually lay the "turkey" on a plate and surround it with more fruit.  Tada, your very own turkey shaped fruit salad!

 

(Sorry for the cell phone photos of the finished product!)

A few years ago, I made a variation of this Thanksgiving turkey fruit salad.  Back then, I cut the pineapple differently and used one side of it along with a banana, apple, and marshmallows to make the turkey face.  This year's turkey was easier to make however.

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you make any special dishes or decor?


This project is shared on Diy Day. I'm also joining the Dare to DIY Party.

Modern Striped Hotel Inspired Bedroom

Between some computer problems and traveling, I've been out of blogging action for a couple of weeks.  But I'm back now and ready to share my latest decorating, and other, adventures.  (I did post my final backyard makeover reveal in case you missed it).  This past week, Rob and I had a belated anniversary celebration trip and traveled to Las Vegas!  It was our first trip to sin city and we were very impressed with the grandeur and magnificence of the city and it's casinos and hotels.

I'll share more of the impressive sights later, but for now here's a look at our hotel.  We stayed at the MGM Grand in the West Wing, their newest addition to the hotel. The room's decor was very modern and made the most of a not-so-large space.  It reminded me of the W hotel in San Francisco which I recently stayed at.

The room featured stripes and modern colors which worked well together.  The carpeting is striped with blue and gray, while a desk chair is striped with shades of red and gray.  A large bolster pillow on the bed pulls the look together with the colors of the carpet on one side and the colors of the chair on the reverse side.  The room is accented with a red upholstered headboard, matching red chair, and modern lamp.

This modern bedroom look is easy to recreate at home:

Headboard:  "Bittersweet" upholstered linen headboard from Target - $249.99
Comforter: 450 thread-count white stripe bedding set from Target - $49.99
Red Pillows: Luxury red decorative pillow from Target - $32.99
Striped Rug: 5' x 7' striped area rug from Walmart - $24.88
Modern Lamp: Brushed steel floor lamp from Walmart - $67.88
Glass Nightstand: Glass side table from CB2 - $149
Glass Work Desk:  Glass computer table from CB2 - $149
Striped Chair: Striped slipper chair from Target - $159.99
Wall Art: Geese wall art from Walmart - $49.99

Total cost:  $933.71  For under $1,000 you can recreate this modern bedroom look from the MGM Grand West Wing hotel.

Backyard Makeover Reveal

Recently I've been featuring our DIY backyard makeover.  To recap, we started our backyard transformation with a totally blank slate:

 So we added a fence and installed a patio.  Once the patio was installed, we were ready to add plants, outdoor decorations, and areas for cooking, dining, and relaxing.

We had about two feet on each side of the patio between the fence and patio edge.  Rather than leaving the sides with grass which would be difficult to mow, we added flowers and plants to each side of the patio.  To set the plants apart from the patio, we installed patio paver edgers.  We bought these from Home Depot and they were surprisingly easy to install and made a big impact by helping the patio look more finished.

Once all the dirty work was finished, it was time for the fun stuff: decorating and furnishing!  After a costly patio installation, we needed to keep the furnishings budget friendly so we re-used a few items we already had and bought a few new items on clearance sales.

We created an area for dining by re-using an old glass and metal kitchen table from Ikea and by purchasing some outdoor patio chairs from Walmart.  I accessorized with some candles and a table runner bought on clearance at T.J. Maxx.  An off-set patio umbrella completes the dining area.

 

Separate from the dining area, I wanted to create a space to relax or curl up with a book.  I bought a wicker loveseat from the home section at Ross and paired it with two more patio chairs from Walmart.  Then, I found a wicker coffee table on clearance at Target.  Although the wicker is a different color than the loveseat, everything worked together once I added some floral print pillows which play off the floral print of the loveset cushion.

We also added a barbecue, small garden fountain, little decorations, some potted plants (remember those great garage sale planters I bought), and planted a crape myrtle tree. I even found a hammock on clearance at Lowes.  And finally, our backyard patio transformations was done!! 

Of course, around here we are never truly done with projects.  Come spring time, we still need to plant some more trees for privacy and add flowers and mulch around the patio.  But we are quite proud of what we've accomplished so far.  Take a look at our backyard transformation makeover before and afters one more time:

This project is shared on DIY Day, Metamorphosis Monday, Make It Monday, Made It Mondays, Thrifty Decor Chick.