HOW TO MAKE TOMATO ROSE

Carve out these easy roses from tomatoes to garnish the platters and make your delicious food look more presentable in a party.

Things required :
Ripe but firm tomatoes.
Sharp knife

How to do it:
1.Take a ripe and firm tomato.
2. Cut a thin slice at the base taking care not to separate it from the tomato.
3. Now start cutting the skin on the side of the tomato inserting the knife until you reach the tip of the tomato without breaking in between.
4. Now making the thin slice as a base start rolling the skin round and round to make the rose.
5. Garnish your food platters with these easy to make roses.

You can check out the video of the carving to see the procedure

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Tomato Tulips

Leaf Carvings from Bell Peppers

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LEAF CARVING FROM CAPSICUMS / BELL PEPPERS

These are easy to make leaf carvings from green capsicums also known as bell peppers. It hardly takes any time and you can make them before the party to garnish your food platters

Things required:
Green capsicums / bell peppers
Sharp knife
Chopping board

How to make:
Cut out a flat portion of the leaf.
Using a sharp knife give cuts on the edge of the leaf- straight cut followed by a slanting one.
Do this until you reach the end part finishing with smaller cuts in the end.
On the reverse side of the leaf trim out the extra fleshy part to make it flat.

Watch the video to see the procedure:

TOMATO TULIPS

This is a simple and easy carving. You can decorate your tables with this when you entertain your friends. 

Things Required :

Tomatoes -- 2 or as needed

Satay sticks 

Spring onions (for making stems)

Carving knives 

How to make:

1. Select long and evenly shaped tomatoes.

2. Using a carving knife cutout an oblong shaped pieces tapering in the edges on 4 sides of the tomato. (see the video for detailed procedure)

3. Next cut the top part joining the 4 slits to make petals.

4. Round off the tips of the petals.

5. Scoop out the seeds and pulp carefully.

6. Take a long green part of the spring onion.

7. Insert the satay stick into it.

8. Pierce it into the tomato to make a stem.

9. Tulip is ready. Now make as many as you require in the same way.

10. Decorate them in a vase along with some more greens of the spring onions.

Watch the video to see the procedure 

You can decorate your dinner / breakfast tray with a single tulip 

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Papaya Boat 

Tomato Rose

Capsicum leaves

DECORATIVE FRUIT PLATTER

This is such a simple and beautiful arrangement of fruits.. I saw this on the net while surfing the net and liked it a lot.. You can serve this decorative platter to your guests.

You will need:
Bananas ... 2
Kiwis ....... 2
Tangerine.. 1
1. Peel the tangerine. In a serving plate, decorate it as shown in the picture.
2. Peel the bananas and place them on the tangerine to make the trunk of the tree. Slice them as shown.
3. Peel and slice the kiwis. Place them over the bananas to make the palm leaves.
Serve the fruit platter decorated like palm trees.

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Watermelon Basket

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PAPAYA LAMP ( Table Decoration)

A simple lamp carved out from papaya to decorate your dinner table.

1. Select a ripe and firm papaya.
2. Cut a slice from the bottom to make it stand on a level surface and scoop out the seeds.
3. Using a thin and sharp knife, cut out the eyes,nose and mouth.
4. Use the bottom piece for a hat. Carve zig-zag on the rim and make a hole in the middle.
5. Light a candle and place it inside the lamp,just before your guests arrive for dinner.

CUCUMBER BOAT (Table Decoration)

Things Required:
Cucumber
Carrot
Spring onion
Cherry tomatoes.
Cloves
Toothpicks

Method:
1. Select a boat shaped cucumber, cut the shape and scoop out the seeds.
2. Make a man with a spring onion bulb.
3. Use cloves for eyes and cut out a nose and mouth piece from a cherry tomato.
4. Use halved cherry tomato for a cap.
5. For the hands, take spring onion leaves, insert a toothpick in each and fix them on the body.
6. Make oars from carrot.
This can be placed in the centre of the salad plate.

PENGUINS

Things Required:
Small brinjals ... select ones which are a bit curved
Carrot or fresh red chillies .. for the beaks.
Tooth picks.

How to make:
1. Cut out a slice from the bottom to make them stand.
2. Give slits on the sides for the wings. Cut a tiny piece of the toothpick and insert between the body and the wing so that they look a bit spread out.
3. Cut the edge of the chilli. Insert a tiny piece of toothpick near the beak part and fix the chilli on it. OR you can carve it from a piece of carrot and fix it.

WATERMELON BASKET (Carving)

Things Required:
Watermelon
Assorted fruits
Cherries
Toothpicks

Method:
1. Take a medium sized watermelon and mark the shape of the handle and the rim.
2. Carefully cut out the pieces between the handle and the rim on both sides.
3. Carve the zig-zag shape on the rim.
4. Scoop out the melon.
5. Fill the basket with fruit salad.
6. Decorate the handle with banana slices and cherries using toothpicks.

SPRING ONION FLOWERS ( Table Decoration)

Things Required:
Spring onions ... 1 bunch ( select big ones)
Apple or Orange ... to use for base
Satay sticks ........ small ones
Foil paper

Method:

1. Cut out the leaves of the spring onions, leaving a 2-3 inch stem intact.

2. With a sharp knife give cuts in criss-cross manner on the bulb as shown in the picture.

3. Leave the onion bulbs in ice cold water in the refrigerator at least for 1 hour. This will make the bulbs open up like a flower. ( you can add ice cubes for better results.)

4. Cut a thin slice off the apple and wrap it with a foil paper.

5. Fix the flowers on the apple to make a small bouquet. This can be placed in the center of the salad plate. Looks decorative in a party.
6. Single flowers can also be used as a garnish with the snacks.

DOLLS (Table Decoration)

Things required:
Lettuce leaves
Orange
Radish or potato (small)
Carrots
Cloves
Pins & toothpicks

For Decoration:
Cherry
Tutti-Frutti
Ribbon

Method:
1. Cut a thin slice from the orange to make it stand on a flat surface.
2. Take a round radish, smaller than the orange and fix it on top of the orange with toothpicks.
3. Make a small cylindrical piece for the neck and fix it on radish.
4. For the face use a small round potato or radish (peeled).
5. use cloves for the eyes and make a nose and mouth from the cherry.
6. Fix the lettuce leaves around the radish to make the dress.
7. Cut thin, long strips of carrot and fix them on the lettuce leaves.
8. Make a hat from carrot and decorate it with cherry (half) and tutti-frutti pieces on the brim.
9. Tie a ribbon around the dress to make it decorative
.

Corn Doll

In this doll I have used fresh corn.
The dress is from the peels and the fibre is used for the hair.
You can add details to the dress with anything ... cut in the desired shapes and secure with toothpicks or bob pins...here I have used a tomato.

PAPAYA PEACOCK (Table Decoration)

Things Required:
1 Ripe and firm papaya
Lettuce leaves
Cloves
Cherry tomatoes
Toothpicks

Method:
1. On the papaya, carefully mark the shape of the bird's face, neck, wings and the back tail piece should be in an oval shape and a little higher than the face.
2. Carefully cut the shape of the face and the neck with a thin, sharp knife.
3. On the sides of the papaya, make 4-5 slits for the wings.
4. Fix cherry tomatoes on the tail piece.
5. Place some lettuce leaves in the papaya and adjust the slits of the wings in a slightly slanting position.
6. Use cloves for the eyes.
7. Make a beak and a crown from a firm, red tomato or red capsicum.

PAPAYA VASE (Table Decoration)

Items Required:
Medium-sized Papaya
Cherry Tomatoes
Tooth Picks
Satay Sticks
Spring Onion Leaves

Method :1. Cut a small slice off on the stem side of the papaya to make it stand on a flat surface. 2. Now cut about 2 inches from top and give the edge a zig-zag design using a sharp thin knife.
3. Using a round scooper, scoop out round pieces from the papaya.
4. Break the tooth picks into two and using these, fix the cherry tomatoes and the scooped out papaya rounds into the hollow places, alternating them.
5. Now break the satay sticks into different sizes. Pass them through the spring onion leaf and fix a tomato on top.
6. Make the required number in different sizes and place them in the papaya vase.You can also put in some leaves separately.
( Variation : Instead of zig-zag design, you can also decorate the edge of the papaya vase using tiny tomatoes. )

RADISH FLOWER BASKET (Table Decoration)

Things required:
Watermelon
Radish (long)
Carrot
Spring onion leaves
Satay sticks

Method:
1. Cut the watermelon into half and carve zig-zag design on the edge.

2. Cut out thin strips from the radish all around as shown in the picture.

3. Cut out the core of the carrot into a thin cylindrical shape.
4. Slice the carved radish and the carrot.

5. Take satay sticks, insert them into the spring onion leaves and fix the radish and carrot slice on the tip to make the flowers.

6. Fix the flowers, some radish leaves and spring onion leaves in between to decorate.

PAPAYA BOAT

I had made this table decoration for my friend's Baby Shower Party.
It is very simple and at the same time looks so pretty and decorative.
Here I have used blue and pink flowers because of the baby shower ...You may use any kind of vegetables like carrot, radish, cucumber or beet root strips or cherry tomatoes to be served with a dip of your choice.

Things required:
Papaya .... long .... boat shaped.
Flowers .... Pink & Blue (fresh or artificial)
Cherries ....for decoration
Bob pins .... with red colour heads
Tomato ..... carved into a basket shape (refer to the carvings section)
Tiny baby figurine.
Toothpicks.

Method:
1. Cut the 2 sides of papaya as shown in the picture and scoop out the seeds.
2. Fill them with blue and pink flowers on each side.
3. With a knife just give cross markings on the middle portion and decorate it with red coloured bob pins.
4. Secure the tomato basket on the top with the help of toothpicks and place the baby figurine in it.
5. Decorate the boat with cherries.

SNOWY DAY (Table Decoration)

Things required:
Cucumbers ... 3 (large,medium & small)
Radish ............ 2 (1 thick and 1 round)
Carrots .... 1
Cherry .... 1
Cloves
Toothpicks

Procedure:
1. Select cucumbers which are are thick on one end and thinner on the other...of 3 different sizes.(Father penguin, Mother penguin & Baby penguin)
2. Give a slit on either side for the wings and insert a piece of toothpick so that the wings open up a little.
3. Carve beaks of 3 different sizes out of carrot. Cut a tiny piece of cucumber on the thinner side and fix the beaks with a piece of tooth pick
4. Fix cloves for the eyes.
5. Now for the snowman, peel the radishes, use the thicker one for the body and the round one for the head. Make a long beak and a hat from the carrot and fix them as shown in the figure.Fix the cherry on the hat and also the cloves for the eyes.
6. Fix toothpicks for the hands on either side.
7. Grate the radish and use it for snow.
8. To make the penguins stand, cut a small piece (slanting) on the bottom and fix a slice of radish.
(You may also use brinjals for the penguins if you get the required shape)

TEDDY BEAR TABLE DECORATION

Things required:
Oranges ..... 3
Cloves ......... 2
Black olive... 1 (here I have used a date)
Toothpicks
Any salad of your choice.

Method:

1. Cut the tip of the two oranges as shown in the picture. Save the pieces for ears.

2. Take one orange and carve the eyes and nose and make two slits on the top to fix the ears.

3. With the help of the toothpicks fix the two oranges one on top of the other
.
4. Fix the ears and the cloves for the eyes. Cut the black olive into half and fix it for the mouth.(I have shaped the date and used it instead)

5. From the third orange carve out the hands and fix them with tooth picks.Also cut a base to make the Teddy stand and fix with tooth picks.

6. Make any salad of your choice and place the Orange Teddy in the center.


It is just a simple carving but makes the table decorative.