Tagged: bento

Getting Back to School (and blogging!)

First Day of School

Hello again!

It’s been almost a year since I’ve blogged but not since the last time I crafted. The truth is that I’ve been crafting all year long, but just haven’t been blogging them because… well, because I was too busy crafting. I ended up doing a few different things this year: calligraphy, hand lettering, watercolor, and paper cutting. It’s been a year to try all the things!

However, my younger kids have asked sweetly to get some bentos for this school year. And since my last kiddo is in first grade, it’s my last chance.

So today’s bento theme is “Have Fun, Learn Lots”. The main is a bear (our school mascot) and includes some little notes of encouragement for the first day of school.


Main  PB sandwich. I added the note with tape that says “learn lots” to the back of the clear container, so it doesn’t get stained or touches part of the food.
Sides Cotton Candy grapes (with a pick that says “have fun”) and pistachios
Also included but not pictured Water and an fruit cup for snack


Included in today’s bento:

Not Too Spooky Bento

IMG_6319

I tend to craft in spurts… sometime life gets in the way with work, kids, house, and all. But I started One Crafty Thing with the idea that I wouldn’t beat myself up over not posting, not crafting, not doing enough. It’s been over a year and I’ve actually made a lot of crafty things, but I haven’t had the time to blog. Today I did. So for my newest kindergarten kiddo, a Halloween Bento, but not too spooky, since he’s not a fan of scary 😉

In today’s lunch:


Main  Cream cheese sandwich (I punched out the eyes with the tip of a frosting tip) and Babybel Cheese (loves his cheese!)
Sides Half of a persimmon (with seaweed face– I used a seaweed punch to make the face) and some special candy corn popcorn with bat food picks (a Halloween treat!)
Also included but not pictured Water and an apple for snack


Today, I used (please disable AdBlock to see what tools I used for this bento):

Goonies R Good Enough Lunch

Goonies Bento Lunch | OneCraftyThing.com

It’s Talk Like a A Pirate Day! And I LOVE pirates. And what is the best pirate movie ever made? THE GOONIES. This summer, my kiddo watched the Goonies and we’ve been singing Cyndi Lauper songs since then until… well, this morning. Today’s lunch, then, was a tribute to One Eyed Willie!

In today’s lunch:


Main  PB&J Sandwich. Eye patch is made with a half of an Airhead mini and non-pareils. Letters are cut out of cheddar cheese.
Sides Strawberries with “rich stuff” food picks and coconut clusters
Also included but not pictured Water and yogurt.


Today, I used (please disable AdBlock to see what tools I used for this bento):

First Day of School Owl Lunches

First Day of School Owl | OneCraftyThing.Com

First Day of School Owl | OneCraftyThing.Com
This last Wednesday was the first day that I packed lunch for two. My kiddos are growing up and two are in elementary school now! *sniff* For the first day of school, I made wise little owls 🙂 You’ll see that one is packed in an EasyLunchbox and the other in a Lunch Bot… because one kid eats like an adult and the other… like a bird!

In today’s lunch:


Main  PB&J Sandwich with yogurt raisins/ pistachios. I used Ritz crackers for the eyes and M&Ms for the pupils (held to the sandwich with a dab of peanut butter). One cashew for a beak. The one for the big kiddo also has half of a granola bar and extra cashews for claws.
Sides Strawberries and grapes. The flowers are made out of wafer paper; I bought these in Italy and can’t find an inexpensive alternative here in the US 🙁
Also included but not pictured Water


Today, I used (please disable AdBlock to see what tools I used for this bento):

Girl Scout Camp Rocks Bento

Girl Scout Camp Rocks | OneCraftyThing.com

It feels like forever since I made a bento! It has been a while; mostly because school ended in June but also because life. But today I got inspired by the dinosaur themed camp my kiddos are going to. Put on by our awesome Girl Scout unit, this is our favorite camp of the year. So I decided to go with a slightly Cretaceous theme.

In today’s lunch:


Main  PB&J Sandwich with nutty Trader Joe’s trail mix
Sides Half an apple carved with a TRex head and grapes
Also included but not pictured Applesauce, a granola bar, water


Today, I used (please disable AdBlock to see what tools I used for this bento):

A Girl Scout Treat

The oldest kiddo is in Brownies and due to a bit of experience making lunches, I was chosen to lead the meeting on healthy eating. It was fun! We set up three stations to make some healthy treats and earn our healthy snacks badge. The girls were very enthusiastic being a part of the fun.

Our first station was to make guacamole from scratch. A very simple recipe of mashed avocado, a lemon, some tomatoes, minced garlic, and salt and viola! Simple guac.

Girl Scout Easy Snack Bentos | OneCraftyThing.com

Girl Scout Easy Snack Bentos | OneCraftyThing.com

We had intentions to make mini pizzas out of naan, but somebody (um, me!) forgot the sauce and cheese, so instead, we cut up the bread for dipping in our guacamole.
Girl Scout Easy Snack Bentos | OneCraftyThing.com

For dessert, we decided to make raspberries stuffed with chocolate chips:

Girl Scout Easy Snack Bentos | OneCraftyThing.com

Girl Scout Easy Snack Bentos | OneCraftyThing.com

The girls were really excited about their bentos, especially since EasyLunchboxes sponsored our little event and gave each girl a set of three EasyLunchboxes for their lunchboxes.

Girl Scout Easy Snack Bentos | OneCraftyThing.com

And a final shot of the bento (with naan pizza!) There were also tortilla chips on the side.

Girl Scout Easy Snack Bentos | OneCraftyThing.com

Our Brownie Troop sends a sincere thanks to Kelly at EasyLunchboxes for her generous donation! Thank you!

In this lunch:


Main Mini-naan with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese (naan pizza)
Sides Guacamole and raspberries filled with chocolate chips
Also added (but not pictured) tortilla chips


That day, we used:

Simple and Fast Valentine

vday16

Valentine’s day is a “required” day for bentos at my house… hearts and love is always appreciated at lunch. However, pressed for time, I was having a bit of a hard time getting a lunch together this morning. Finally, a very quick, quite simple Valentine lunch was the answer and this all took 7 minutes. We even got to school on time.

In today’s lunch:


Main PB&J triple stacked heart sandwich. I used a heart-inside-a-heart cookie cutter to shape it. Since it produced a small sandwich, I made it triple stacked. Also, because I had some extra bread left, I cut another set of sandwiches (half of the heart) and made it look like there were two hearts with one in front of the other. Inside the box, craisins with yogurt covered raisins.
Sides A mandarin with a heart and large globe grapes
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and water


Today, I used:

Football Bento

Football Bento | OneCraftyThing.com

One Crafty Thing… if you’ve ever wondered what the name was about, it’s about doing one thing, just one crafty thing whenever you get the time. I’ve been out of time lately, so the bentos have been few and far between (the lunches are being prepared, just “plain” lunches though — sandwiches that look like… well, sandwiches). But lately I’ve been getting more inspired. It’s Superbowl season and it’s here in my hometown this year, so it’s been EVERYWHERE! So after being bombarded with football everything for weeks, I suddenly had the bright idea to make a football bento (admittedly, it’s like thinking up a Mickey Mouse lunch in Disneyland, so sue me!) Anyhow, I made this for my youngest kiddo (preschool kiddo!) and he loved it.

In today’s lunch:


Main  PB&J football cut with a simple circle cutter and using crust for laces
Sides Almonds painted to look like footballs and mandarins with football post food picks
Also included but not pictured Cheese stick and water


Today, I used:

A Charlie Brown Lunch

A Charlie Brown Bento Lunch

First day of back to school after the winter break makes just *needs* a cheering up back to school lunch. After two weeks of vacation where we were really sick, we spent the last day of winter break watching the Peanuts movie, so I figured a simple Charlie Brown lunch was a good bet for some smiles. I’ll be honest, I’m going on my almost fifth year of making bentos and although it’s lots of fun for both me and the kiddos, the mornings are increasingly chaotic to be making bentos. So simple is the way to go!

In today’s lunch:


Main  PB&J cut with a cutter (then trimmed to look bald) and drawn on with black food coloring
Sides Green grapes and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and water


Today, I used:

Peace on Earth Bento Lunch

Peace on Earth Bento Lunch | OneCraftyThing.com

After a bit of a bento hiatus, I was ready to get back (right before vacation!) and I was trying to decide what cute cartoon character I was going to do… maybe the Good Dinosaur, maybe a Peanuts theme, or something else. After being uninspired by any cartoon character, I thought about what I wanted for my kiddo for Christmas. And what I really  wanted was peace on earth. No more mass shootings. No more violence toward any religious group. No more more hating refugees because they want a safe place to live. I just wanted peace. And so, today my wish is peace for everyone, anyone.

In today’s lunch:


Main  PB&J triple stack with a heart cut out and a dove flying in the middle. The leaf is a sprinkle.
Sides Green and red grapes with the word “PEACE” cut out in bread. Also, strawberries.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and water


Today, I used: