this week in bento boxes

Pin It We have more of an Easter theme going on again this week. Unfortunately my little Kirsten was sick a few days this week, so a few of these lunches were either enjoyed at home, or not eaten at all. My poor little girl didn't feel like eating much for a couple days. I've been under the weather myself so even I didn't feel like eating them. It's tough when both the parents and kids are sick. The kids are actually feeling quite a bit better - me, not so much. I think it takes this poor old mama a little extra time to get better. Here are are bentos:



This little bunny is nearly identical to the one I showed yesterday for Fun Food Friday. They really are beyond simple to make. She had a chicken sandwich cut into a circle and I stuck a bunny lip pop pick in the sandwich. Icing eyes and sliced apple ears. The top tier held baby carrots.



Here is a different kind of bunny bento than the one above. I laid down some romaine lettuce and used my bunny cutter to make a bunny turkey sandwich. Icing eye and marshmallow tail. The top tier held a small silicone cup of Annie's Bunnies fruit snacks and some baby carrots.



And yet another different bunny bento. This one had a ham sandwich cut into a circle shape with a cute cheese bunny cut-out on top. I used my food safe markers to draw on the details. The bottom tier also held a peeled clementine with a cute bunny pick. The top tier held some baby carrots and a cute little bunny container with ranch dressing.



This is more of a Spring bento than an Easter bento. I used a square silicone cup and molded into the bento box. It held a sliced cereal bar. The bottom tier also had crackers and tulip shaped cheese. The top tier had sliced strawberries and kiwis with a cute pick.



And lastly, another bunny bento in the 4 square lock and lock bento. She had half a chicken sandwich. On top of the chicken sandwich were 2 cheese bunnies with food marker details, heart sprinkle noses and a fruit leather heart. The other containers held silicone cups with baby carrots and blueberries.

Here are the items (or similar) that I used to make these lunches:





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fun food friday: the 1 minute bunny lunch

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I know a lot of people wonder how on earth I possibly have the time to make all these cute foods all the time. I see the comments sometimes "this lady has way too much time on her hands!" The truth is, I have no time on my hands. Most of the time I am extremely exhausted. I work full-time, Monday to Friday outside the home. I only have time with my kids on the evenings and weekends. When I'm with my kids though, I make sure we do special things together because I miss that precious time with them during the day. Making your kids lunches cute doesn't have to be time consuming though. No word of a lie, this lunch probably took me 1 minute to make. I saw this incredibly awesome idea on Tiffany's blog Cute Food for Kids last year. If you haven't already, definitely check out her blog. She has amazing ideas and is so creative with food. That girl can turn a babybel cheese into anything!! Anyway, she had the idea of using the bunny lip pops from Easter for making cute bunny lunches. Absolutely brilliant. I can turn a plain sandwich into a bunny in 5 seconds flat. I already had a few of these lip pops hanging around from last Easter and it never occurred to me to use them for fun food. That's why I love the internet - so many amazing ideas out there. Pick yourself up some bunny lip pops this Easter and once the lollipop part is gone, save them for lunches! Here's how I made this 1 minute bunny lunch.

Spread two pieces of bread with peanut butter and cut into a circle. Stick your bunny lip pop pick through the sandwich. Add 2 icing eyes. I used matchstick carrots for the whiskers and 2 slices of apple for the ears.

Go ahead and make one for your kiddo! You would spend at least that amount of time making any lunch for them and they will absolutely love it!

In case you are not familiar, this is what the bunny lip pops look like:







They come in a package as a lollipop. Once the lollipop is finished, wash the plastic bunny face and save it!



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magical jellybeans and lollipops - part 2

Pin It Does anyone remember this post from last year? It's going to become a yearly tradition in my house for Easter and I absolutely love it. If you are not familiar with last year's post, this is what you do. Every year on Easter Eve you gather your kiddos and give them each a "magical jellybean." Have them plant this magical jellybean in a plant pot with Easter grass and tell them that by the morning when they wake up, their jellybean will have turned into a lollipop. Seeing their amazed little faces in the morning was absolutely priceless. I'm so excited to do it again this year. I took the tradition one step further this year though. Kirsten had asked me where I found the magical jellybeans, and I really didn't have a great answer. I decided that we would make some adorable chickie eggs, and that these little chickies would be laying our magical jellybeans. The week before Easter we will periodically check on our chickies to see if they have laid any magical jellybeans yet. By Easter Eve, they will have laid 2 magic eggs - 1 for each of the kiddos. Then we will plant them and watch them grow into lollipops! So exciting for the kiddos. Here are the steps:

1. Make some adorable little chickie eggs out of plastic easter eggs. We glued on googly eyes and craft foam beaks. I then placed yellow cupcake liners (turned inside out) into a silicone muffin tray and placed the eggs in the liners.



2. The week before Easter, check your chickie eggs to see if they have "laid" a magical jellybean. You'll want to sneak a couple in there at some point so your kiddos can find them.





3. Save these magical jellybeans for the night before Easter. Fill a plant pot with some Easter grass and have your kiddos plant their magical jellybean in their pot.









4. While your kiddos are sleeping, make sure their magic jellybean grows into a lollipop. If you stick some playdoh in the bottom of the plant pot, the lollipop will stick straight up when you put the stick in. Dispose of the jellybean so there isn't any evidence - that shouldn't be too difficult, lol.



Original idea from See Jane Blog



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chickie masks

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On to the Easter crafts, and trust me, I have quite a few to post. I had some leftover yellow paper plates from one of the kids birthday parties and thought they would make adorable little chickies. They were beyond simple to make, needing only a few things. Once they dried, the kiddos had fun playing with them. They used the chicks as both masks and puppets. We made them a couple weeks ago and they're still playing with them, although a few parts have had to be re-glued in all the fun. Here is how we made them:

What you'll need:

yellow paper plates - or paint regular ones yellow
googly eyes
feathers
orange craft foam
scissors
glue
popsicle sticks

1. using your scissors, cut a small triangle nose our of your orange craft foam

2. glue 2 googly eyes and the orange nose on the front of the paper plate. Allow to dry.

3. Once the face is dry, flip your plate over and glue a popsicle stick and feathers on the back. Allow to dry.

Have fun!









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this week in bento boxes: Easter edition

Pin It Wow, this weekend is going by WAY too fast. Where did yesterday even go?? Poor little Cam is sooo sick again. He's on 2 antibiotics right now, which isn't a lot of fun for him, or us. He's not exactly willing to take his medication all the time and it can be quite the fight. It breaks my heart. He was a bilateral ear infection, bilateral pink eye, upper respiratory tract infection, fever and possible strep. I'm praying he feels better soon. This Winter has been so rough for both the kids. Cam brings home germs from daycare and Kirsten from school and it's really hit them both hard. Anyway, on to Kirsten's bento boxes. She had a little Easter theme going on this week. These were really fun to make. I love when I can actually follow a theme and not just have to come up with random ideas. It's tough being creative sometimes, lol.



This Easter bento was for Kirsten's afternoon nutrition break. I cut a ham sandwich into a circle and made a cute little chickie out of my small cutters with cheese, food safe markers and carrot. The bottom tier also held some green grapes. The top tier held 2 small easter eggs, one holding raisins, and the other holding crackers. Only small easter eggs will fit.



This bento was for Kirsten's morning nutrition break. The bottom tier held a silicone cup of chocolate cheerios, pretzels, and bunny-shaped marble cheese. The top tier held some grapes with a cute bunny pick.



This bento was also for Kirsten's morning nutrition break. The top tier held a cereal bar with the word CHICK cut out of fruit leather. The bottom tier had a bed of baby spinach leaves (which she didn't eat, but I didn't think she would anyway) and held 3 small decorated easter eggs. 1 egg held craisins, 1 egg held cheerios, and 1 egg held blueberries. She just loved opening these eggs to find out what was inside. It was a surprise every time!



This is another chickie bento, but this was for her afternoon nutrition break. She had a chicken sandwich cut into a circle with a circle of cheese on top. Icing eyes, carrot nose, and some carrot head feathers. She also had some nilla wafers, and some chickie-shaped cucumbers.



And lastly, another Easter bento for her morning nutrition break. The bottom tier held a silicone shaped bunny filled with chocolate cheerios, marshmallow eyes and a skittle nose. The top tier held yogurt with sprinkles.

Here are some of the supplies I used (or similar) I used to make these lunches:





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