The key is to choose a large, oblong watermelon over a smaller round one, for a more shark-like effect. Cut the base on an angle so that it stands up at an angle. And use the sliced out mouth section to fashion the fin. Make sure you leave the bottom of the shark intact so it holds liquid.
My friend, Jeffington Bear is great at pumpkins and he carved the shark himself, so if you have a friend who is great at carving pumpkins, you might assign the task to them.
We didn't have marbles for the eyes, but grapes could be substituted. We just left ours blank.
We also had red Swedish Fish candies to surround the base of the watermelon.
Oh, and make sure to save the scooped out seeded flesh and the juice to make the punch.
For the Watermeloncello One-Two Punch:
- In a large pot, bring the watermelon juice and some water to a rolling boil.
- Turn off the heat and add several cups of sugar to create watermelon flavor simple syrup.
- Stir violently until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from heat and cool completely.
Combine in a cooled pot and stir:
One regular-size bottle of clean-tasting vodka (we used stuff called Parliment which is pretty much grey-market cheap Russian vodka).
OR
You can also use grain alcohol such as Everclear. Just keep the (highly flamable) Everclear away from heat/flame, add the simple syrup to it only when it is cool.
Using an immersible blender or a countertop blender, blend in batches until it is punch-like and all blended. Store in bottles in your freezer or fridge and replenish your shark as needed. Freezer will make it very thick and keep it chilly longer. Or, if you have time, you can also freeze some watermelon in cubes or chunks to float in the punch to keep it cool.
This. Is. Awesome! So doing this!
Show me your teeth! This is awesome. And I’m digging the watermeloncello recipe. We make lemon, orange, and grapefruitcello but have never considered watermelon.
Yup, this guy might be making an appearance at my upcoming housewarming party.
Might I suggest Sobieski for the vodka. Dirt cheap at $13-15/1.75l and very smooth.
I’m far too clumsy to be able to carve that, but my god how amazing!
My amazing pumpkin carving friend has promised me one of these for our BBQ, yay!!
I’m TOTALLY making a shark for my birthday this weekend. Shark full of rum punch, and liquid nitrogen ice cream (home made dippn’dots) by the pool.
I used to hate having an August birthday as a kid (everyone was away), now I think it’s AWESOME!
I had a watermelon shark at a vintage tea-party birthday bash! I love sharks. And I love tea parties. So! I bought one of those massive teacup planters available and craft stores and had my watermelon shark coming out of it! It was a huge hit!
I tried this yesterday for a Jurassic Park themed party! It was surprisingly easy to pull off and was a big hit. Thanks for the fun idea!
I did this. It was so easy and everyone LOVED it! Warning, do NOT leave out overnight! Yuck.
Thank you for this extavagent idea. The watermelo-sharko will make an appearance at my son-in-laws berfdaypartay which is a pool/luau type theme..shark with punch should be well excepted as a vip guest.