DIY Summer Pineapple, Cactus, and Watermelon Drink Stirrers From Scratch With Maria Provenzano

The weather is finally starting to warm up, and that means outdoor entertaining! I love adding really fun and bright décor when it comes to summertime entertaining, and that even includes the drinks. These adorable pineapple, cactus, and watermelon drink stirrers are super easy to make and require only a few supplies. Like you needed another reason to make a cocktail for happy hour.

I love working with clay, because you can mold into any shape you like, and once you bake it, it will stay that way. I highly recommend using oven-bake clay over air-drying clay, because it remains the same even if it gets wet, where the air dry doesn’t work as nicely. Just make sure to check the baking time and temperature on the directions, as different brands may have different requirements.

Remember, when working with clay the color can come off on your hands, but is easily removed with soap and water. If you are switching between colors of clay, you will want to wash your hands in between, because if you have a darker color on your hands it will transfer to the lighter color of clay you are using, and will darken the color.

DIY Summer Pineapple, Cactus, and Watermelon Drink Stirrers

Pineapple Drink Stirrers

Supplies:

Yellow clay; oven-bake not air dry

Green clay; oven-bake not air dry

Plastic drink stirrers

Toothpicks

Glue gun or industrial strength glue such as E6000

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (or according to package instructions)

*Make sure to work with clean hands

Roll the yellow clay with your hands to heat it and make it moldable

Shape it into a pineapple-type shape; smaller at the top and larger at the bottom

Stick the drink stirrer into the bottom of the pineapple so that it stay on the stirrer nicely; use your hands to reshape a bit if needed

With the yellow pineapple shaped clay on the drink stirrer, use a toothpick to draw a diagonal pattern one way and then the other to create a more detailed pineapple look

Roll out the green clay into a long strip, and cut small pieces to make the top of the pineapple

Place longer green pieces in the top/center of the pineapple, and shorter pieces around it; it helps to look at a real pineapple as a point of reference

*Slightly press the green clay into the yellow clay so that it will stick; you don’t need glue at this point, the clay should stay together on its own

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake according to package instructions, about 15 minutes for ¼ inch thickness

Remove from oven and allow to cool

Place a little of the hot glue in the hole that was created by the drink stirrer, and stick the drink stirrer back into the pineapple (this can be done with E6000 glue as well)

If for some reason any of the green leaves break off due to use, you should be able to glue them back on

Watermelon Drink Stirrers

supplies

Pink oven-bake clay

Green oven-bake clay

Drink stirrers

Black paint and toothpick

Glue gun or industrial strength glue such as E6000

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (or according to package instructions)

*Make sure to work with clean hands

Roll the pink clay with your hands to heat it and make it moldable and create a small ball; flatten the ball to create a flat disk

Roll the green clay into a line that fits around the outside of the pink clay disk

Cut the disk in half to create two watermelon slices

Stick the drink stirrer into the bottom of each watermelon, being careful not to ruin the shape; once a good indentation is made, remove the drink stirrer

Place the watermelon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake according to package instructions, which is usually 15 minutes for every ¼ inch thickness

Once the watermelon have baked and are cooled, dip a toothpick into the black paint and draw tiny “seeds” onto the watermelon; a very tiny paint brush could also be used

Allow to dry and repeat on the other side

Place a little glue in the hole that was created in the bottom of the watermelon and stick the drink stirrer back in the hole

Allow to dry

Cactus Drink Stirrers

supplies

Pink oven-bake clay

Green oven-bake clay

Drink stirrers

toothpick

Glue gun or industrial strength glue such as E6000

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (or according to package instructions)

*Make sure to work with clean hands

Roll the green clay with your hands to heat it and make it moldable and create a cactus shape using your hands

Stick the drink stirrer into the bottom of the cactus until fits securely

Add “arms” to the cactus by rolling out a bit more green clay and pressing it onto the main body of the cactus

Use a toothpick to make small indentations around the cactus to make it look like spikes

Add small dots of pink clay to make “flowers” if desired, and press them into the green clay until it stays

Carefully remove the drink stirrer, and place the cactus on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and baking according to package instructions, which is usually 15 minutes for every ¼ inch thickness

Allow to cool

Place some glue into the hole that was created at the bottom of the cactus and place the drink stirrer back into the hole

If any of the parts of the cactus come off for any reason, reattach them with glue