Food Painted Rocks – The Fruit Basket
I was using an old Tupperware container on my kitchen table to hold produce. Yes, this is not the most attractive way to display and store your fruits and vegetables. I was very excited when my friend came over with a new fruit basket that she found at a garage sale. It had a brass finish and a banana hook at the top. I don’t think I have ever considered having anything so fancy for a fruit basket in my life.
My old piece of Tupperware went into the dishwasher and will now serve another purpose. I filled the new basket with apples, oranges and bananas. I just love the beautiful colors and the assortment of shapes and sizes that go into this basket. My granddaughter asked me to paint some food rocks for her so she could play kitchen with them. I decided to start with some fruit rocks since we were both admiring the pretty basket.
Supply List for Food Painted Rocks
• Smooth, flat Rocks
• Acrylic Paint, Assorted Colors
• Paintbrushes of assorted sizes
• Acrylic Paint Markers, Assorted Colors
• Acrylic sealer, spray or paint on
• Other supplies: table cloth, paper plate, pencil
If you’re looking for more information on the best paint pens and markers to use on your painted rocks check out my review and top picks here: 8 Paint Pens for Rock Painting – What I Use
Choosing and Priming Your Rocks for Painted Food
When choosing a rock for a project, keep in mind that the size and shape matter. I would not want to paint The Empire State Building on a tiny pebble. I normally purchase rocks at Hobby Lobby or on Amazon. Purchased rocks tend to be flatter and bigger than what I find out on a stroll in the park. But I live in Oklahoma, we are not exactly known for having an abundance of rocks.
The rocks I chose were about 2 to 3 inches long and had a flat surface. The shape of the rocks was very important to me for this project. I wanted each rock to take the shape of the piece of fruit I was creating.
I will often put a primer coat of paint on the rock before painting the design. A primer coat helps to fill in holes, it provides coverage when your rock is a darker color, and will help the paint for your design adhere to the rock better. I put a primer coat on each of these rocks since they were pretty porous.
Here is some more information on priming rocks if you would like to read further.
How to Prepare Rocks for Painting?
Food Painted Rocks Design 1: Strawberry Rock
I think my favorite fruit is strawberries. I chose a rock with a rounded triangle shape for this project. Since the majority of the rock was going to be covered in red paint, I did a primer coat in yellow first. Now I know you are asking why I would do that. This is a little artist trick. Yellow helps red pop. A white primer coat would not have the same effect. I painted the entire surface of this rock with two coats of bright sunny yellow paint.
Then, I went over the majority of the rock with a true red color. I avoided much of the top so I could paint the top leaves of the strawberry a deep green.
Next, I started adding the seeds. I used a black paint marker. To make the shape of the seeds, I made a set of two parentheses side by side () and filled in the blank area with the paint marker.
For the detail work, I added shading to the leaves with a lighter shade of green paint marker. I added some depth to the seeds with a line of yellow on each one.
Food Painted Rocks Design 2: Watermelon Rock
The next rock in our project is a wedge of watermelon. This one is going to build on the techniques of the strawberry rock. I chose a rock that was rounded on one side and could stand up on the flat edge. Once again, I started with two coats of yellow paint. Then I went over the majority of the rock with red paint. I added the rind of the watermelon by painting the edge of the rock a deep green.
I worked on the rind first. Using paint markers I added a line of yellow and a line of white.
Then I started on the seeds of the watermelon with a black paint marker. I used the same two parenthesis technique and colored in the blank space.
Food Painted Rocks Design 3: Pumpkin Rock
One year I grew an accidental pumpkin patch. I had a pumpkin from Halloween that fell and busted in my planting area and I was not able to get all of the seeds picked up. That spring the vines had taken over and I had little pumpkins everywhere. This pumpkin will not leave you with a mess of vines. I started with two coats of orange paint over a round rock. I also started on the stem area with some bright green paint.
Now I am going to do something that I would not normally do. I did not wait for the second coat of orange to completely dry. While the paint was still a little wet, I added a lighter shade of orange. This pushed the paint around and added lots of dimension. I also added some shading to the outline of the stem with two lighter shades of green.
To finish the rock, I added some light lines for the sections of the pumpkin and added a stem at the very top. I used a black marker for both of these items.
Food Painted Rocks Design 4: Kiwi Rock
Have you ever tried kiwi? I remember having some in elementary school on a fruit pizza and loving it. The fuzzy outside is a great contrast to the bright green inside. This rock is pretty simple to make. I started with two coats of white over the entire rock as a primer. Then, I made a circular section of green paint and put a coat of brown paint on the outside section.
I kept the middle simple; I drew a five-point line shape with a white paint marker. Then, using a black paint marker, I made some dots for the seeds of the kiwi.
Food Painted Rocks Design 5: Orange Rock
This rock has a lot in common with the kiwi rock. After I put down two coats of white, I painted the majority of the face of this round rock bright orange. Then I worked on the orange peel by adding a layer of dark orange to the outside.
With a white paint marker, I made a small center circle and filled that in. Then I drew six curved sections to the orange and added a seed for each section next to the center circle.
Sealing the Food Painted Rocks
I decided to seal the food rocks using a spray acrylic sealer from ModPodge. I made sure to do this step outside. Spray sealer can give off some strong fumes and you don’t want to have that linger inside the house. I set the rocks on a protective surface so I didn’t get the sealer everywhere. Using a paper plate or plastic table cloth works perfectly for this step. I sprayed a light coat of sealer and let it dry. Be sure to follow the package instructions on your sealer.
More Inspiration for Food Painted Rocks
Sonja and Jane at sustain my craft habit show you how to brighten someone’s day with fruit rocks.
https://sustainmycrafthabit.com/fruit-painted-kindness-rocks/
This fun article at look what mom found gives you numerous examples of food painted rocks.
https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/07/fruit-painted-rocks-craft-kidsinthekitchen.html
Jen at nature’s fare took a different approach. Instead of making a 3d image that used the entire rock for painting, she made a 2d design on a white background.
https://www.naturesfare.com/natural-home/fruit-veggie-painted-rocks/
Top Take-Aways from my Food Painted Rocks Project
1. What other food items could inspire a painted rock? A trip to the grocery store could provide endless ideas.
2. Food is never perfectly shaped or balanced. Be sure to have some imperfections in your design to keep the realism.
3. I plan to create more food painted rocks and have different themes for future articles. Keep on the lookout for more great rock painting ideas.
May your painting be fruitful 
!