To make a tomato rose simply pick a tomato of any size. Make sure it is a gel variety like a Roma tomato. Take a very sharp knife and start peeling it like you would an apple. Keep peeling until you have the longest length possible and then coil the peel into a rose shape. Using pink, red and orange tomatoes can create a lovely bouquet for a centerpiece.
To make carrot curls simply use a vegetable peeler to cut a long strip off of the carrot. Spear each curl with a toothpick and then chill them in hot water until they are ready to use.
Use your cookie cutters for something other than making cookies. Small cookies cutters can be used to press shapes (heart shaped for instance) out of carrots, cucumber coins, apple slices and any other vegetable that can be sliced thinly or flatly.
Cucumber balls are a nice surprise in a salad and make a delicious departure from the ordinary. In order to make cucumber balls simply slice a cucumber in half and then use a melon baler to scoop out the contents into ball shapes (exactly the same way you would a melon.
To make a vanilla or tapioca pudding more interesting consider drooling a spiral shape on the top of the pudding made out of some kind of fruit puree. Mango puree goes particularly well with tapioca pudding.
To make a strawberry fan, use a paring knife to slice thee strawberry from a point slightly below the top stem to the bottom. Continue making thin slits from one end of the strawberry to the other. Gently spread the segments of strawberry apart to create the strawberry fan.
To make a cherry tomato flower simply dissect a cherry tomato by cutting it into four slices from the top downwards. However don't slice through to the base of the tomato. This allows you to fan the 'petals' of the cherry tomato outward. These cherry tomato flowers look lovely on a salad or on top of a dip.
To add a special touch to a pasta dish take a star shaped cookie cutter and press it into the flesh of slices of red or green pepper. Then place the stars on the plate of pasta to add visual interest.
Can't get a kid to drink his milk? Try garnishing it with a red licorice stick and see what happens. Red licorice goes well with milk.