Aloha....... I am looking for some flower carrot cutters for soups etc....The ones in my cookbooks are metal but I am open to anything that will do the job....any help? I want to say, that I sooooooooo admire the people on this site, the fun you have etc....is so awesome! Especially those of you that have used it as a dieting tool! Caroline

A while back someone posted that Kam Man Market in Quincy, Massachusetts was a good source of bento boxes and gear and they were so right!

I had to make one today for my new middle school daughter's new box, this is just some elastic, a piece of wool felt, a button and some beads. If you have a stash of single vintage buttons this would be fun way to use them up. If you don't have a sewing machine I think the elastic could be hand sewed together and then glued between a sandwich of a ready-made applique on top with a piece of felt underneath to hold it together. http://coudremode.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bento-band-300x200.jpg

I recently bought a few packets of stencils for sprinkling furikake to make trains, cats or rabbits. Stupidly, I read the instructions once then threw them out before actually using it. When I went to try it, the furikake didn't stay anywhere I wanted it too, and what was there came off when I took away the stencil. What's the trick?

I am planning for Christmas and hoping to upgrade my rice cooker. I am interested in opinions from my seasoned veterans regarding which automatic rice cooker you recommend. I am willing to invest a little bit but I don't want to waste money. Who does? Please advise.

What kind of sauce bottles do you use? Do you have any shortcuts for holding sauce? I read on another bento site that you can sneak those little paper cups for ketchup from fast food places, but I never go to those anyways. I want to bring ketchup for my mini-burgers tomorrow but I haven't decided what sauce bottles I want yet so I have none...

Good night everyone! **waves** I'm refusing to go to bed and therefore finish my weekend so here i am, lol! I've been thinking of this lately and thought this may be an interesting topic for you all. There are lot of bento boxes tagged as "microwave safe". I always prepare my food to be eaten at room temperature but all my job mates do reheat their food in the microwaves we are provided at work. Some of them carry crystal boxes that have plastic lids so they are completely safe when reheated. But most of them carry plastic boxes and throw them at the microwaves.

Anyone see this concept car that Honda introduced at a recent auto show? This it the nearest thing to a bento car. Hello Kitty theme, perhaps they will even have nori textured seat coverings. Take a look. Hope Honda really makes this thing -- gotta have one! http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/30/tokyo-preview-honda-ev-n-concept-is-retro-adorable-has-unicycl/