tomorrow’s lunch is packed in a new box i got from kir devries, an online store with a selection of great shinzi katoh boxes. this box is the “a cute riding red hood” two-tier, and to inaugurate it, i made a red riding hood kyaraben. shinzi katoh designs are whimsical and unique, and i was thrilled to find an online supplier in the states with low shipping costs (plus they offer free shipping on orders over $50!).
my red riding hood (or should i say “riding red hood”) girl is made of cheese with yellow soy paper for hair, and white soy paper (dyed red with food coloring) for the hood and dress. her eyes are nori, and her nose and hair squiggles are food coloring. the bows in her hair were cut from nori with this cute tiny bow punch from jlist. she’s on plain white rice, with cheese and sesame seed flowers, and in the same box are two soy nuggets, a grape tomato with a yellow heart food pick, a flower-cut carrot, cucumber slices, and some mint leaves.
the other tier has sliced kiwi (accented with one purple potato flower) in a paper food cup, with a plump strawberry, two more flower-cut carrots, and some purple potato slices. here’s a picture of the lid of the box, so you can see how closely i tried to model my kyaraben after shinzi katoh’s design:
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the past few days have been full of excitement: the apartment search has continued at a frantic pace (preventing me from bento-ing), and i think i finally found the perfect place… fingers crossed, and i’m not going to say more because i don’t want to jinx it before the paperwork goes through.
on monday i also found out that my “spring butterfly” bento won the spring bento contest hosted by bento & co. / just bento / french bento! i’m so sorry for not getting to this earlier, but i did want to take this opportunity to repeat my congratulations to all who participated, especially to lia of my bentolicious and sheri of happy little bento (two of the best bento pals and competitors a girl could ever ask for)! i’m extremely honored to have won, but the best prize was the chance to see the other contestants’ inspirational ideas and to make some new international bento contacts — it was really a great experience, so thanks again to maki, mook, thomas and erico for hosting!
bento zen 
Teehee, you’re having too much fun with the “riding red hood” girl, I think! That is indeed a super cute bow punch, perfect for hair ties, and she’s so sweet! Once again you’ve made the slender box look so easy to fill, tempting me to get one and try for myself.
I wondered where you’d been, assuming correctly that you were scouring the city for the awesomest digs around. Crossing fingers and toes for you too! I love the idea of moving! You’re so lucky 🙂
Congrats to you for winning the Spring Bento Contest! It was such a beautiful bento; you have quickly become very talented at the delicate cutwork and lovely layouts. So much so that I click over here with anticipation to see what fun and creative bento you’ve come up with next!
thank you so much sheri, your sweet compliment means the world to me — your site (along with pikko’s and lia’s and susan’s and debra’s) is a big part of my original “bento bible,” you know, the things i have gone to for inspiration and ideas since the very beginning of my bento-making. you ladies are my bento senseis! ❤ ❤ ❤
and thanks for the good wishes re: the apartment… i am really hoping this i get this place!
First of all, congratulations on winning the Spring bento contest!!! Secondly that bento is so cute!!! I love all of the colors and the arrangement of your bento too. Sheri is right, those types of boxes are hard to fill, but you did it so easily!
thank you susan, you are so sweet and supportive! this box isn’t as slender as the light pink “natural lunch” one, but it’s definitely a different proportion to work with than a typical one-tier. to me, the key is picking a character with the same proportion — the rest works itself out!
This one is wonderful charaben! I should say that all the works in this red riding hood box are amazing … You are very talented! Always so details and so neat in everything. Congrats on your winning! I’m enjoying so much of your bento work. Bravo Megan!!
thanks lia, you are such a dear! i try to be neat, but sometimes i feel like i miss things… in my efforts i often take cues from your beautiful work! thanks for your congratulations – you deserve the same of course!
I knew the first time I saw that butterfly bento (original post)… that it was something special, but at that time I didnt’t know that you had entered it into the contest! So I’m feeling pretty smart about now. LOL!
But seriously… you did good girl! And so did our friends Lia and Sheri. I feel so proud to “know” all of you!
Now this little cutey Riding Red Hood is another sensational creation. You are so creative and have an excellent eye for design.
thanks for your pat on the back debra, i really appreciate it coming from such a bento role model!
It’s super cute! Fall in love with your boxes and the flowers you made from cheese and sesame seeds, gonna steal this idea by someday hehehe :D. Congrats for winning the Spring Bento Contest! Your butterfly bento is indeed amazing, no wonder you won 😀
thanks tata! please feel free to use that sesame seed idea – i’m sure i didn’t come up with it originally. you are so sweet to congratulate me!
Congratulations for winning the contest! You are so good in converting the character on your bento gadgets to your lovely bento! You are so detailed that you made even the matching flowers for the backdrop for the red riding hood! Well done!
thanks kidsdreamwork! i love getting my characters from the boxes themselves, makes my life easy hehe. and being detail oriented is a classic virgo trait!
Congratulations on winning with your truly radiant spring butterfly bento! What a lovely affirmation of your creativity and great skills! I love the inspiration you’ve taken from this Shinzi Katoh illustration, turning it into a bento that is clearly a gamene design full of delicate and precise (Virgo!) charm. Your eye for the sweetly stylish is second to none 🙂 (Crossing fingers for that apartment, too!)
thanks jenn, your comments never fail to make me smile! glad you liked my “riding red hood” (that phrasing is still making me giggle a little), and i’m hoping your crossed fingers send my luck over the top into “definitely getting the apartment” territory!
Congrats on winning the contest, you deserved it ! I just checked out that site, as I love the whimsical style of Shinzi Katoh. I almost fainted when I saw their shipping charges to Belgium (77 USD), until I tried all the other possibilities and discovered the USPS Global Standard rate : 11 USD for a box, is definetely more in my budget. I will check out the other items they have, thanks for fuelling my shopping addicion 🙂 Otherwise, you made another awesome bento !
haha, we are such enablers!! yes, the shinzi stuff is sooo cute, hope you treat yourself to something nice, and i can’t wait to see what you do with it!