Making Banana Art

Bananas have thick skin which is perfect for decorating with pens or even by poking a pattern directly. It's a perfect way to bring a smile to someone's face when unpacking their school or work lunch.

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Craft: Making Detailed Banana Art

attosa
Diamond Post Medal for All Time! 1,246 Posts

April 8, 2018

When I was in school, I used to take my mechanical pencil to my banana peels to make designs on them. Now I've learned to make prettier, more detailed designs on them. When banana peels are poked or cut, they release chemicals that cause oxidation, turning the marked areas brown. Here I'll show you how to use a needle on a banana, with an image of your choice, to make some gorgeous banana art.

Total Time: 45 minutes

Making Detailed Banana Art - Cat in the Hat banana art

Supplies:

1 ripe banana (not green, not brown)
1 image you'd like on the banana (line drawings are best)
scissors
tape
sewing needles (I used 1 medium tip, 1 fine tip)

Steps:

Cut out your image, leaving a couple millimeters of space around it.

Making Detailed Banana Art - cut out your image leaving a little space around it

Tape the image on the banana so it's as flat as possible.

Making Detailed Banana Art - tape down as flat as possible

Begin poking the outline of the image. Puncture through the paper and a bit into the skin, not all the way into the banana. You don't want more than a millimeter of space between pokes.

Making Detailed Banana Art - use needle to poke into the skin, but not through, close together

For smaller details like eyes and noses, use a finer tip needle.

Making Detailed Banana Art - for finer details use a smaller needle

When you feel you've got all the lines poked, remove the image and tape.

Making Detailed Banana Art - when done remove the image and tape

Making Detailed Banana Art - poked image under paper

Take your needle and connect the dots by poking more holes, using the image as a reference guide.

Making Detailed Banana Art - use image to poke additional holes to connect the dots

For things like pupils, flip the needle around and use the eye to make a wider puncture.

Making Detailed Banana Art - for the pupil turn the needle around and use the eye end for a larger hole

To shade in areas, scratch the surface of the banana peel gently with the needle tip. I used a crosshatching technique by scratching up and down, then left and right over it.

Making Detailed Banana Art - are shaded areas scratch the skin, crosshatching pattern works well

The longer you let the banana sit, the darker the image will get.

Making Detailed Banana Art - the longer the banana sits the darker the image becomes

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Tip: Banana Art

KIM HOGGAN
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 114 Posts

January 27, 2021

Here is a way to encourage your little one's to eat fruit. I spend some time with my preschooler in the morning drawing on the banana he will eat for lunch. That way we start the day sharing a few moments together and it reminds him that he is loved.

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