Avoid putting foods that are the same color next to one another in the stripes, like cucumbers and lettuce. You might create stripes out of only two foods, like strawberries and blueberries, or have each stripe be a different type of food for more diversity. Make the stripe pattern more complex by turning it into a zig-zag pattern instead, if desired.
For example, you might create a large outer ring of cucumbers, the next ring of carrots, the next ring of hard-boiled eggs, and so on until you fill in the whole plate. You could also create a spiral design using one type of food and fill in the spare areas with other kinds.
You might create the outline of the heart with blueberries and then fill it in with strawberries, apples, pineapple, and oranges. Form lots of hearts within the large heart for a more complex design.
Place carrots around the edge of the square with additional squares made of cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, and cheese.
Other colorful foods you might use include tomatoes, cheese, broccoli, purple onion, peppers, kiwis, or grapes.
Keep the rounded part of the tomatoes whole to act as the bottom of the flower. You might even add a stem and petals made out of a cucumber to finish off the look.
While it’s not necessary to overlap the slices if you want the flower to have large petals, overlapping them will make your flower look more three-dimensional.
Follow the same steps to create a flower out of a cucumber, except you’ll use the end of a cucumber as the base with the slits. Make sure you don’t make your slits so deep that they are cut off of the radish completely—you just want them to be able to hold the other radish’s slices.
You might use the very end of a cucumber as the center of the flower, arranging all of the petals around this. Create a slit that’s deep enough so the edges fold out, but not so deep that you cut the cucumber slice entirely in half.
As you’re making the slits, avoid cutting all the way through them to keep each petal fully intact.
Cut a ‘V’ shape into the cucumber at an angle to form the bird’s neck and beak. If you’re using a watermelon, cut a thin slice of the watermelon and then use a small knife to cut out the shape of the bird (or any other animal you’d like!). Cut the rest of the slices you made into swans too, if desired.
You might use shredded cheese or peas for hair, or cut a bell pepper into the shape of a shirt.
Pears make great mice too. Use a small piece of cauliflower for the bunny tail.
For example, you might place a layer of blueberries around the pear first, then a strand of grapes, then strawberries, and finally orange slices to fill out the edges of the plate.
The strawberry halves that are cut up should have about 4 lengthwise cuts each in them. The fish’s body (the strawberry half that wasn’t cut) should be oriented so the wider end is the head and the skinnier end is connected to the tail.
Use a spoon to hollow out the cucumber half. Fill the boat with other foods too if you’d like, such as cherry tomatoes, pepper slices, or watermelon.
To create a train, hollow out 4-5 bell peppers and arrange them in a line together. Use different colored bell peppers for a colorful display.
Put the turtle together by placing the shell on top of the cucumber slice. Situate the turtle’s neck so it’s vertically against the shell and use a toothpick to keep it in place. Give the turtle eyes with black food gel, if you’d like.
For simple chick feet, cut carrots into flat triangles. Make a beak out of the carrot and place it in the yellow yolk. Create eyes using black food gel.
Cut off the end of the carrot to create a flat platform for it to stand correctly. Flip the pepper over so its bottom is facing upwards to balance it on the carrot.
