Category Archives: Home & Diy

Crafternoon: How to make a pineapple vase

I’m in research mode for wedding decorations and this pineapple vase DIY idea keeps popping up in my social feeds. I had to test it out for myself and see if it’s just a Pinterest pipe dream or whether it’s legit enough to make it into my nuptial plans.

Crafternoon: Pineapple vase | lizniland.com

So! First things first, you’re going to need a pineapple and some flowers (duh) plus a decent knife, a spoon, a chopping board and a bowl for the scooped out pineapple chunks. (Or just eat it as you go. Not that I would do that. Ahem.)

Step by step pineapple vase - wedding DIY | lizniland.com

Slice the top off the pineapple, taking into account the size of the mouth you want your vase to have. Then, carefully shimmy the knife around the inside of the skin, trying not to stab into the side of the fruit.

Once you’ve cut out your circle, you’ll be able to slice diagonally into the flesh towards the skin to extrapolate (what a word!) the delicious chunks. The spoon will come in handy here. I found I needed to tip the juice out into the bowl every couple of slices too.

Note: If you do stab the side of the pineapple, you’ll be rewarded with a sticky puddle which will totally rain on your vase making and displaying parade.

How to make a pineapple vase | lizniland.com

Et voila! It should be looking pretty vase-y by now! To get my roses to stay where I wanted them, I had to trim my stems down a lot and I found I needed to stuff the base of the pineapple with some of the excess foliage. If you wanted to have more control over your flower arrangement at this point, sticking a glass or small jar inside the pineapple could help you out.

Wedding DIY - Pineapple vase | lizniland.com

I love the look of this vase and it was quite simple to pull together. However, it would be a tricky one to DIY for wedding decorations – I’m not sure how the little guy would hold up if you tried to make it the day before your ceremony and ain’t no bride got time for making pineapple vases on her big day! BUT if you have a crafty aunty or mate who could help you out, this would definitely be a stunning table decoration.

DIY pineapple vase - wedding decorations | lizniland.com

I didn’t keep the vase in action for very long and I didn’t put any water in to keep the flowers fresh (the jar tip I mentioned would probably be the key here!) so I’m keen to try it out again, maybe for a dinner party or other function.

Also, I now really want to make a pina colada cocktail and serve it in the pineapple. Next time!

Totally tag me on Instagram if you try this crafternoon!

Weekend in pictures: 19-21 July

Dinosaur craft. That was the biggest revelation of last week for me. After stumbling across this dino clutch bag DIY and this dino serving dish DIY, just about all I could focus on this weekend was accumulating all the pieces to get happy with dino-DIY! My friend Lee and I are tackling the dish on Sunday – excitement!!

Me & my DIY dinosaur

There were non-dino related activities too – a girl & her man have gotta eat, right?! Friday night incorporated this awesome skinny apple crumble. Without fresh cranberries available, I used some sliced up Medjool dates (& cut the honey back a bit). And to pump up the crumble topping, I stirred in a scoop of pumpkin seeds. Served up with a scoop of ice cream, M was in heaven.

Skinny Apple Crumble

After a heavy GRIT session on Saturday morning, I headed out to do the aforementioned dino shopping, but not before a coffee pitstop at local favourite Rolador. It’s nearly always a decent wait for whatever you order, whether you’re dining in or ordering from the side roller door, but given it’s always good it’s worth settling in for (good time for a scour through Pinterest, I say!)

Rolador cafe

The other great purchases of the weekend were these two Women’s Weekly cookbooks: Pressure Cooking & The Big Book Of Beautiful Biscuits. OMG. When I saw Beautiful Biscuits there was no way I was leaving without it. It’s the ‘vintage edition’ and my mum has the original.

New Women's Weekly cookbooks

Growing up, this was the book Mum would pull out when she had to ‘bring a plate’ or whip out a slice for a function. The slice I always, always wanted her to make was the below. A peanut butter, chocolate major deliciousness! While we got it once or twice, it was serious ‘treat food’ & looking at the ingredients as an adult, I can see why!

Beautiful biscuits kid dream

Funnily enough, when asked which recipe from the book he’d like me to make first, M suggested the below coconut chocolate slice… which was Mum’s go-to slice! I can definitely see why – delicious, easy & an ingredients list full of kitchen basics. And while I don’t wish to upset the ladies of the Women’s Weekly test kitchen, I did hack the icing slightly with great return. Instead of the suggested icing sugar/milk/cocoa topping, I mixed half a tin of light coconut cream (leftover from Friday night’s pressure cooked Massaman) and half a block of dark chocolate over a low heat for an icing of coconutty, ganachey goodness!

Beautiful biscuits slice

Sunday morning was all about brunch and coffees on the sunny deck at The Locale. I thought I hated their coffee but M suggested I try my latte with full cream milk, rather than my usual skim order… Lo & behold, it was great! There’s a few places around town that I don’t love for coffee so I can’t wait to taste test them with the milk switch – I think there must just be a skinny milk doing the rounds that’s a bit funk!

Locale coffee

After breakfast we hit the farmer’s markets & then finished off the rest of the groceries before hitting the carwash. It was a DIY car wash but it felt machine-y when you can sit inside to watch the suds run down the windows!

carwash

We decided to old-school it up for Sunday lunch & cooked up a chook & roasted vegies for a proper feast. After some initial browning, the chicken was done in the pressure cooker (with a recipe from my new book) in just 25 minutes! It was beautifully juicy and for less than halfa, I’ll definitely be doing it again! I made a chilli lime sauce to drizzle the chicken, which was stuffed with lemon, oregano & garlic. The vegies consisted of squash, garlic & brussels sprouts with a hearty drizzle of caramelised balsamic vinegar to finish.

Sunday roast

The final image of the weekend though goes to these beautiful dusky lilac roses which smell so delightful. Fresh from the farmer’s markets, I can’t think of a better way to spend $10!

Roses