Apple of My Eye

Romance should be a regular thing but it doesn't have to be difficult. Romance does not always equal chocolate & carriage rides. Most people are perfectly happy to know that you're thinking about them and care enough to do little things. So that's what we're going to do, a simple thing that lets your sweetie know they're on your mind.

All you need to get started is an apple and a sharp knife (is that a paring knife?). I picked apples because they're red and easy to carve, kinda like you'd carve your initials into a tree. You don't have to do this my way though, you could customize it by maybe using three different apples side-by-side, each with one symbol like I (heart) U, or something silly like a mango with a big smiley face. The variety of fruit you can hack up is endless really.

Ok, so for the first example I carved the outline of a heart into the apple and then cut a smaller one just inside so that I could pop the skin out. After that I carved the initials and applied lime juice (lemon works too) to the cutout areas, which prevents the white of the apple from turning brown. I like the general design but now that I see the photo I notice those deep cuts give the apple a bit of an, I don't know, wounded look I guess.

With that in mind, I picked up a knife this morning and made shallow cutouts of 'I (heart) U,' carefully peeling off just the skin with the knife tip. It gives the same drawing effect without you cutting too deep and I think it's probably a better look no matter what kind of a design you decide to go with. You can see the difference here:


One thing I learned is to carve your drawing or message smaller than you think because they can kinda get away from you (trust me). Also, make sure the top of your heart curves upward enough; I wasn't thinking about it on my first try and it ended up looking more like a circle than a heart. An ugly circle.

Leave your romantic gift to be discovered on a fruit bowl, in a locker, or even pack it up in their lunch for a nice midday surprise and then wait for the smile because you my friend, are awesome.