Wooden fruit is versatile and timeless. Whether you want to brighten up your breakfast nook or impress your dinner guests, you can add a touch of nature to your home — without having to pick anything from the garden! With wooden fruit, there’s no need to worry about watering, over-ripening, or perhaps worst of all: fruit flies. Instead, you can just enjoy your sustainable decorations and customize them to fit the style of your home.
But if you’ve never crafted or decorated with wooden fruit before, you might have a few questions. For instance, is it better to get artificial apples that are made of wood or plastic? Can you customize wooden fruit? Are wooden fruit decorations best for certain seasons or times of year? Finally, where can you find high-quality wooden fruits at affordable prices?
In today’s guide, we will answer all of these questions and more, so let’s get started!
Wood vs plastic fruit
If you’ve ever tried to make a fruit display in your home using real fruit, you know that your hard work won’t last very long. At one point or another, you’ll actually want to eat the fruit, and if you don’t eat it in time, you’ll end up with a mess that would only look good in the compost pile!
Thankfully, wood and plastic fruits are two great alternatives that won’t leave you feeling like you wasted perfectly good fruit. But deciding between wood and plastic fruit might not be all that easy, so let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of each:
Wood fruit
Pros
- Durability - Strong hardwoods like birch are extremely durable and can last for decades without degrading in quality. This also makes wood fruit the ideal choice for crafting and decorating.
- Customizable - You can acquire wood fruit that is already finished with paint, or you can get unfinished wood fruit for DIY projects. This gives you greater freedom to customize the look of your fruit decorations.
- Safe for kids - Most wooden fruits do not contain harmful chemicals, which makes them a safer option to have around the house if there are children present. They also tend to be larger and more dense than plastic fruit, which makes it easier for children to distinguish them from real pieces of fruit.
- Superior touch - The texture of wood can be very pleasant and calming to the touch, as opposed to plastic which can feel a bit cold and lifeless.
Cons
- Weight - Wooden fruit is typically heavier than plastic fruit. While this does not have to be a drawback, it could be an issue if you accidentally drop the fruit.
- Price - High-quality wood fruit decorations tend to cost more than their plastic counterparts.
Plastic fruit
Pros
- Variety - Since plastic fruit is mass-produced, you can often find a greater variety of finished fruits for purchase.
- Lightweight - Plastic fruit tends to be much lighter than wood fruit.
- Cost - Plastic fruit is created en masse, which often means that you can acquire greater quantities at a lower cost.
Cons
- Carbon footprint - Plastic is not biodegradable and its production can contribute to pollution and large-scale environmental issues.
- Safety concerns - Plastics can release toxic chemicals or have dangerous coatings applied, which can make them unsafe for children or pets. While most wooden fruit is large enough that there is minimal risk of being swallowed, many types of plastic fruit (like plastic grapes) could easily cause a choking hazard for children and adults alike.
- Aesthetic limitations - Plastic fruit may look good from far away, but it often looks very cheap and unappealing up close. Plus, most plastic fruit is made ready to use, so this gives you very few options to customize your fruit with paint or other materials.
As you can see, there are benefits and drawbacks to both types of fruit replicas, but if you want to go with something of superior quality that can also be customized to suit your tastes, wood fruit is definitely the better option.
How to use wooden fruit for decor
If you’ve never considered the versatility of wooden fruit before, you’re in for a real treat! There are dozens, if not hundreds of different ways to decorate your home with wooden fruit displays. So, let’s take a look at some of the most popular options to help you get some creative inspiration for your next project:
- Dining table centerpiece - This is one of the most common uses for wooden fruit, and it is a classic way to completely transform your dining area. Rather than trying to put out a bowl of real fruit every day, you can have a perfect, decorative fruit basket at the center of your table whenever you need it. The best part? Wooden fruit never spoils!
- Kitchen counter decor - It’s nice to find little ways to make your kitchen homey and inviting. By adding a small fruit bowl or display of wooden fruits to your kitchen counter, you can add a touch of charm and beauty without taking up too much space. This way, you can still use your counter to chop real fruit and vegetables while enjoying the visual of a classic fruit bowl right in front of you!
- Shelf displays - Whether you have bookshelves or floating shelves, wooden fruit can make a great decoration for just about any elevated surface in your home. A wooden apple could work as a bookend, or you can simply create a charming vignette using a few pieces of wooden fruit. In either case, beautiful wooden fruit has much more aesthetic appeal than an empty shelf!
- Seasonal decoration - Wooden fruits can make a great addition or complement to seasonal decorations. For example, you could use wooden apples and pears with autumn leaves for a fall-themed decor. Alternatively, you could pair wooden fruit with fresh flowers or light fabrics in the spring or summer. Even in the wintertime, it’s easy to make wooden fruit a part of your holiday decorations, particularly wreaths or mantel displays.
- Fruit bowl filler - Do you like to keep fruit on hand, but don’t want to risk purchasing more than you need? If so, you can put wooden fruit to more practical use by making it your go-to fruit bowl filler. This way, it can look like you have a full fruit bowl at all times, even if just a few of the fruits on top are real. Just be careful not to accidentally grab a wooden fruit when you’re hungry!
Fruit cutouts for wall decor
You don’t always need a three-dimensional fruit display to enhance your home decor. If you want something that is more space-efficient and can adhere directly to a vertical surface, you can’t go wrong with wooden fruit cutouts. From wooden cherries to strawberries to pineapples (and just about every fruit in between), you can find a fun wooden cutout to decorate your kitchen, dining area, or even a child’s playroom at Woodpeckers. Plus, each of our fruit cutouts is made of sturdy Baltic birch plywood, ensuring that they can remain a staple of your home decor for years to come!
Did you enjoy our decorative wooden fruit guide? Be sure check out our wooden fruit shop to find the perfect gift for yourself or a loved one!
