My daughter is a curious child, and inevitably finds little treasures that I hide away for rainy days. And so it was with a cute little set of Bento cutting tools this week. But her timing was actually perfect, as It’s just about time to celebrate The Year of the Rabbit. Hopping after the tail of the Feisty Year of the Tiger, The Year of the Rabbit is supposed to be a calm year when we all get a chance to regroup, nest, spend time at home with family, and follow artistic pursuits (!!). Truly, I’m not making this stuff up!
My child loves cutting up play dough and cookie dough, so why not cheese and ham, too? There are some talented folks out there who create gorgeous and hilarious Bento lunches, but I doubt I’ll ever be one of them because my daughter has to be IN CHARGE of the cutting, and I’m merely a lowly sous chef who’s occasionally granted rights to poke cheese through the cutters with a toothpick.
We happen to live near a Daiso store (BEST store ever for people who like to scope out unique, cheap Japanese odds and ends), which is where I scored these fabulous tools. Little hands can use these cutters to easily cut thinly sliced cheese, while cutting meat requires a bit more elbow grease. As such, she beautified a lot more cheese than meat. If you don’t have Bento cutters, small cookie cutters work equally well.
In the end, it wasn’t about the presentation at all. While I was able to squirrel away a few pieces for our sandwiches, she piled all her little pieces into a bowl and then gobbled them all up. We had so much fun making these that I have a feeling you’ll be hearing more about creative lunch-making from us again. Especially since we’re supposed to be following our artistic pursuits this year!
Want more Bento?
Adventures in Bentomaking Blog
20 Easy Bento Lunch Boxes: Parenting.com
Enormous List of Bento Resources from Cooking Cute
I’m so grateful to all of my readers for subscribing to my blog, leaving comments that keep me going, joining me on Facebook, experimenting with your children, and bringing your thoughtful ideas to the table. I happen to be one of the lucky ones who lives near the only Daiso store in the USA, and I want to lend a Bento hand to a loyal reader in need of food beautification! If you leave a comment letting me know how you would use this set by Friday, February 4 at 12 midnight PST you will be entered into a random drawing for the cute Bento tools. (Set includes Stainless rabbit mold for rice, Animal food punching tools, Stainless food storage container, Animal sandwich cutter, Green fruit box, Insulated lunch bag).
Wishing everyone an early happy Lunar New Year!
The winner is selected!! Thank you everyone for your participation. I received so much positive feedback on this giveaway that I’ll be sure to have one again soon. Stay tuned…
I would use this set with my daycare kiddos. i have a in home daycare and this would be perfect for practicing fine motor skills!!!
I bet my kids would like cutting out shapes from cheese, although I’d be tempted to try those cutters with Fimo-type clay. Or how about with thin beeswax, to decorate candles? It would be a tough decision, whether to keep them for food or crafts! And I always, always need little storage containers. I send both my boys to school with a zero trash lunch, and every now and then a container goes missing. And that lunch bag? Mine all mine. I don’t have one–all the kids do–but with celiac it’s much safer for me to pack a lunch if I might be gone all day than risk eating cross-contaminated food. (Why don’t I already have a cute lunch bag?!)
Cheese, Fimo, Beeswax! So many good ideas. And yes, you should have your own lunch bag 🙂
Hey! I’ve never seen those! I’ve seen the mini erasers sets, but are these little mini cookie cutters?! I must investigate…
They are! I think there a bunch of shops in SF that carry these goodies, too.
I would use these for our upcoming Girlscout Neighborhood Thinking Day International Festival at the Japanese booth! Then I would give them to my 4 year old son to make his lunch for preschool and my older daughters lunch as well!
I would use them to make lunch making fun. Spencer would use them by taking them out of the cupboard and putting them back in. Simone would use them as her “cutest treasures ever!!! (high quiet screeching voice) And Dave would never know we had them.
🙂
You are so funny 🙂 I can absolutely hear Simone’s voice.
Soo cute! I would use them for my daughters lunch!
Matilda would just love these, putting them in and out of the bag would probably be fun for her, but I think these would be great to use as stencils for painting or sewing which Lil m loves. Could these also serve as cookie moulds?
On another note, I found a lovely cardboard “aquarium” on Made by Joel which was a lot of fun to make with Lil m – you should give it a go! x
Made by Joel is one of my absolute favorite sites, and the aquarium is delightful! How old is Lil m?
I mix it up at meal time once in a while, add a little blue food coloring to cottage cheese and drop in a gold fish crackers. Or use ritz crackers, cheese, and pretzels to make a car. . .with a trailer of course. My favorite thing is when I set a plate in front of M or M and they shout. “I know what I can make with this!” I would go wild with those bento tools. . .I think we would have to extend lunch time.
Such a good idea to add food coloring to cottage cheese. You’re brilliant! And that must bring tears to your eyes when your children have lunchtime bursts of spontaneous creativity. I now see that I have merely touched the tip of the iceberg!
i would use this to make my first bento! i love seeing pictures of bentos on the internet and it really makes me want to make one. They are so cute!!!!
this would be a great supplement to use with my daughter and her occupational therapy….so cute and functional!
I am very new at bento lunches and could sooo use this set to help get started. My little guy is turning two so Ive been looking for creative ways to get him to eat his lunch at daycare better, so a few weeks ago I started doing bentos but dont have many supplies just yet.
thanks so much for such a great giveaway!
My pleasure! Thanks for reading my blog 🙂
I never knew about bento lunch boxes. I would use these tools with my daughter to make her lunch. We both bring lunch to school/work every day.
My little one really likes bunny. It will be perfect for the year of the rabbit. She calls her rabbit “maomaotu” or “conejito” in Mandarin and Spanish. She is onto play dough lately and would be wonderful for her to play with them.
I would give them to my niece for her birthday!
nancymeyer1 at gmail dot com
Rachelle, these are awesome! I’m definitely going to have to make a trip to Daiso. I think my daughter might actually eat her lunch if it was this cute! Thanks, as always, for the amazing ideas!
Aren’t they cute? I’ll set up a cheese-cutting station at our next playdate 🙂
with my kiddos
I would give this lovely set to my mom. She’s japanese and I would love to receive a bento made by her.
Thanks a lot for the chance.
I would use it to further encourage my son to try new foods! I find having him help me and also using a dinasaur sandwich cutter helps but he doesn’t venture very far past the few foods he is comfortable with! My husband is asian so it would be nice for him to see it.
This set would complement our Montessori activities
MY GRANDCHILDREN LOVE TO DO THINGS IN THE KITCHEN WITH THEIR MOM AND I AM SURE THEY WOULD ALL LOVE THIS
My little son loves to play the considerate host to his visiting friends. He would use the prize to cut up slices of cheese and serve them to his friends.
I would totally use it for my nephew. Not that he needs any further spoiling, but he’s at that age where he’s starting to get a little picky about food, and I’ve read time and time again that making food look fun/funny is a great helper. I’d use the smaller cutters for veggies (carrots and cucumbers) and make him fun shaped PB&Js.
I love bento! I’d use this for parties, my friends would love it~
I would use this to make mealtime a little more fun for my little grandson.
kimkmc at yahoo.com
What a great way to get kids interested in food preparation. I’d use these with the grandkiddies. Thanks.
Maybe this would encourage my picky eater to eat? I love them!
My daughter is just starting to enjoy making her own lunch for school, and she is sooo creative, I would love to see what she would come up with.
I would use these to make meals for my kids. I already make happy faces often and I figured out kids eat better if the food looks fun.
I would use this with my daughter to see what wonderous creative snacks her mind could bring to life.
I would use it to surprise the kids and make some really awesome lunches for them during the school year.
Thank you for the giveaway. I would use this to send fun lunches with my daughter to school a couple times a week.
mrsmiki77 (AT) gmail (DOT) com
My daughter-in-law is career USAF, so she, my son and my grandson live overseas. I won’t get to spend more than a week or so once every year or two with my grandson, so it’s important to me that I make our time together very, very special. I’d use those sweet Bento tools to lure CJ into the kitchen with me to make special meals and snacks. I think it would be something he’d remember. Thanks for the chance!
That’s so sweet, Deborah 🙂 Send your DIL a big thank you from me for working hard for our country.
I would use this to make myself cute lunches for work. I love looking at bento creations and would love to start doig it for myself.
I would use these daily for school lunches and breakfast and dinner…I have 4 kids – BUT 1 that is terribly picky. Fun shapes might get her to eat more 🙂
I would use these with my friend’s daughters ot make lunch when they come to visit.
How cute! I would use this with my 3 year old. She loves to help me cook in the kitchen. She’d get a kick out of the cute shapes. Thanks!
I would use this set to make my daughter lunch. The products all look easy to use so I would have her help me.
I would love to win this! I pack a bento for my 3 year old snack every day. I teach preschool and he is also in my class (not homeschool) so it is fun and gratifying to watch him enjoy it.
I’d love to use this with the six-year-old I nanny for. He’s a picky eater and I’m always looking for fun ways to get him to try new things!
I have a little shelf unit in our little basement studio with little odds and ends organized according to color, a la beautiful stuff. I would put the little pieces in with the “stuff” and let the kids discover them and a use for them, on their own.
My sister and I would have alot of fun with this!
My kids and I would use them for Easter!
I would use this set to make cute lunches for my daughter to bring to school!
alittlepieceofheaven777(at)yahoo(dot)com
I would use them to make my son’s lunch more fun. He would love them.
I love Japanese bento boxes and accessories! If I win, I am goint to make rabbit shape fried rice or grilled cheese sandwich for my family!
I would use this for my 4 kids.I have one very picky eater that loves his food cut into shapes.Thanks!
lstanziani(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’d like to have little Kaylie use this, she’d be thrilled I’m sure
I would use this set to make my daughter healthy lunch fun! how can this not be fun,. she will love it,
My little girl would have so much fun making little sandwiches with these – rabbits are her best loved animal right now. Hop.Hop.Hop!
I would use this as I transition my daughter from the disgusting school meals to packed lunches. This would be perfect.
This would be great to use in my preschool classroom when we make special snacks.
I am fascinated with the art of food in Japan and in bento boxes. I would love to have this set to experiment with this art for and with my kids.
trixie420247 at yahoo dot com
i would use this to pack our daughter’s lunches
I have been dying to learn the art of bento! I would love to win this so I could use it for my daughter’s 1st grade lunches…..we would have a blast with it!
kylie8cake (at) gmail (dot) com
I’d use this with the kinder to make awesome school lunches and cute family picnics!
I think these would be easy to make really fun lunches for the kids. Maybe I could encourage them to branch out to try new foods if they’re cut into fun shapes. Thanks.
I would use this to make cute lunches for my nephew!
I would use it to make lunches for all my kids, and myself 🙂
I would love to surprise my daughter with cute shaped sandwiches. It would be a hit for her.
I would use it for my kids food.