Due to being in hospital/sick and all that kind of not-fun stuff, I didn't get to do a Halloween bento roundup this year. So to make up for that, here's a Christmas bento roundup from the always inspiring JustBento flickr pool. I've especially picked out ones with simple yet clever, easy to copy ideas - so that you could make yourself a cherry Christmas bento too!

First up is another great bento from the ever talented Sheri of Happy Little Bento, whose work I think has appeared in every single bento roundup I've ever done. I chose this out of the many Christmas bentos she's done this year because of its simplicity: the snowman is made out of two quail eggs stuck together, essentially. The dried cranberry buttons are so right! Read more about this bento on her blog.

Here is another egg-Snowman by Ariani of Bebento. This one features a little carrot hat. There is also a cute little cutout elf, which probably takes more skill and patience. Check out more cute cutouts on her blog.

Maki-san aka luckysundae of Cute Obento and co-author of the fabulous Yum-Yum Bento Box book, is a pro at using simple ideas to make the cutest bento decorations. Here she creates two little Santa chicks from inarizushi, cleverly using the skins as hats. The beaks are the cut off ends of wiener sausages.

Onigiri (rice balls) are always the easiest things to shape into something cute. This snowman by Genetta of the appropriately named My Lunch Is Cuter Than Yours couldn't be more straightforward, but is so effective. Notice how even the red of the Mini Babybel adds a festive holiday air? The jaunty peperoni scarf is a very nice touch. Read more about it here.

And last but not least is this cutest of cute Santa Claus onigiri bento by Mokiko of Bohnenhase. The bright red Santa caps are the ends of red peppers (a really versatile part of the vegetable) and the white bands are strips of cheese. And I just love the staging, with the tiny bundles of chocolate 'presents'! More about this bento in English and German here.

Happy Holidays to all bento fans!

By the way, I haven't spotted any Chanukah or Kwanzaa bentos this year (although this lovely Chanukah bento by gamene of Bentozen from 2 years ago is still a standout). If you've seen any, let me know. I'd love to see what creative things people come up with...as long as it doesn't go the wacky Sandra Lee route of course ^_^;.