Friday Frivolity: Sandwich Bag Art

Day in and day out, packing school lunches can be tedious. The thrill of a clever and functional new lunchbox can wear off. The time and inspiration for perfectly adorable bento style lunches can run short. Leave it to a father, then, to come up with a speedier way to infuse his children's lunches with a sense of fun and whimsy, express love for his children and exercise his own creativity.

David Laferriere is just that father. Since 2006, he has be drawing quirky and clever pictures on the sandwich bags in his sons lunches, and posting photos of his creations on flickr.

The assembled photos are a thrill to peruse, and so its no surprise that they have been written about in more than one place, and slowly but surely his lunch bag photos have gathered a following.

We might not all be as deft with a Sharpie as Mr. Laferriere, but we can dream.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Lunch Box Revolution

 Happy New Year.  We hope you holidays were joyous and you are happily settling back into your routine.  One aspect of this modern mother's routine that causes her more angst than it should is school lunch.   This is because she wishes to send her minions off each day with  a healthy/balanced/nutritious mid-day meal.  She is hampered in this pursuit by time, the spacial confines of lunch boxes and her own lack of creativity at 7:20 a.m.  Or so she thought.   Then her friend Jane sent her the PRI link The Art of Making Lunch Boxes in Japan.

 She now realizes she has been looking at lunch all wrong.  This is not a problem but an opportunity.  Like scrapbooking with food.  Really, what on earth is keeping her from constructing a 6 colored lunch that looks like Hello Kitty or a Piano?  Nothing but her own inertia.  This revelation lead her to YouTube where she discovered this video How to Make Bento Lunch Boxes.

 So now she knows. And her wooly winter hat goes off to these creative and dedicated lunch packers. 

Should her octopus shaped mini sausages not turn out or her bunny ear apple fall to pieces before it reaches school she has also come across the following sites which might prove helpful in the pursuit of lunch. 

My Meal Box

Lunch in a Box - Bento Resources

School Family Lunches

Eatingwell.com - Healthy Kid Lunches


Family Fun - back to School Lunches

LapTop Lunches

Parenting - Lunches

If you want to read more about the ancient and trendy (everyone in Brooklyn is doing it) art of Bento follow this New York Times link.  Happy Lunching!

Photos from The kitchn, Women's Day and My Meal Box.

Friday Frivolity: Lunchbox Love

Because ruining the planet just isn't polite!  For the well-mannered mother with dreams of reducing her carbon footprint, we suggest that the Goodbyn lunchbox can help her cause. With five compartments that hold everything from bagels and bananas to a handful of raisins (organic, of course), the modern mother can pack an entire lunch without disposable baggies, plastic wrap, or pre-packaged snacks. She then snaps on the lid and, voila! low-waste lunch complete. For at least one modern mother, it's lunchbox love.