Lunchbox look - Aug. 4-8, 2014

School is already back in session, though I never really stopped packing lunches during the break. They were utilitarian - room temperature sandwiches and fruit tossed in our pool or beach bag, eaten with sunscreen-soaked fingers before heading back to the water. Not fancy, but was a bad meal ever eaten beachside? I don't think so, but this week's back-to-school lunches certainly are cuter.

Owl! We welcomed the school year with an owl sandwich, easily made with a circle cutter, yogurt pretzel, candy eyes, sprinkle nose and pick feet. There's also a tomato and celery sticks plus dried cherries and orange slices.

Snoopy! I used a cookie cutter to make this triple-deckler cheese sandwich and stuck on freehand fruit leather details. In the Snoopy container is peanut butter for dunking the celery. There's also raspberries, turkey on a pick and a few dog bone grahams.

Panda! Chocolate peanut butter makes a good contrast for the panda's sprinkle eyes. (The eyes are white Easter egg sprinkles and the black dots are from a Halloween sprinkle mix.) The bottom tier also holds celery sticks and teeny, hand-cut cheese cubes. The top tier holds blueberries, raspberries in a container so they don't get squished and a container holding two peanut butter pretzels.

Happy hearts! A better photographer could probably bounce the light so all of the smiles would be visible. The strawberry stems are upside down flower picks. The cheese sandwiches were all cut from the same piece of bread - the complete hearts go on top and any scraps that needed to be pieced together are hidden on the bottom. There's also carrots, turkey and raspberries, plus a side dish of strawberries.

Shark! I've made this shark lunch before but it's so easy and I had both blueberries and baby Goldfish on hand, so I had to make it again. The shark is made using a large egg-shaped cookie cutter - just use the top two-thirds. White heart picks form the teeth. There's also dried cherries and a little pail filled with turkey. Because there are so many loose pieces in this lunch, I topped it with a piece of deli paper before closing the lid to help it survive all the way to the cafeteria.

Snack! I also thought I'd show an example of what I pack for school snacks. This box is quite small - just big enough for a teacup-shaped silicone cup of crackers and a handful of blueberries on the side. I don't make classroom snacks cute, but a fun little cup doesn't take any effort.

Thanks for stopping by!