As I said in my normal column I would do a pictorial guide to making a watermelon helmet. There are several ways they are prepared, this is the way I do mine up, as far as other designs go. They are prepared in much the same manner just the cuts are done differently. Prepare your helmet as follows.

 In choosing your melon you want to choose a melon with a smaller yellow spot,this is generally where your face hole will be cut, in this picture you see it is smaller and close to the bottom.

 Next you want to cut the bottom off the melon that is closest to your yellow spot. Once the top is off use a large spoon and begin removing the red flesh of the watermelon.

Clean as much as you can with the larger spoon, then get a smaller more sturdy spoon such as a table spoon and scrape the rest of the red leaving only the white colored flesh, be sure not to go to deep to ruin the structure of the melon or penetrate the green membrane, as it will dry out and look like crap.

 Once all the pink is removed the shell should look like this, no pink or red remains

Now once this step is complete your melon is ready to dry on the counter, I usually cut a small triangle out of the melon (in the yellow portion) to allow for airflow. Place the watermelon on papertowels and let dry on the counter overnight, and flip ober the next morning so the drying can complete, generally you will require 18-24 hours to dry in total. Another option is the overnight dry on the counter and then place the melon in the fridge for as long as four days, either way it should be almost dry to the touch before moving to the next step, or you will have watermelon juices dripping down the side of your head.

 Now that your watermelon is dry, cut out a face hole, remember cut it a bit smaller,you can always trim things up afterwards, but you can't make the melon bigger after you have cut it.

Next try on the melon check the fit, and adjust hole size as nessisary, also at this time find the approximate location of where your ear holes should go.

Cut out the ear holes with a small knife.

This is an ideal ear hole, you want to be able to hear the people around you and the announcements at the game.

This is a completed melon. its ready to go. I have no hair so I wear a little welders beanie under the melon, I have also used a small touque in colder weather. It either keeps you warm or stops the sweat from running down your neck.

Thats a completed watermelon, if you have questions don't hesitate to contact me, either PM me or drop me an email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Cheers, Norm Peel