Where can I get bento supplies in the US?

Question

Hi, I have been making smily face breakfasts and cutting foods out of cookie cutters since I started cooking, but I never knew there was an artform called bento until I was looking for some pictures of foods that my son likes for a new child guided menu project that I decided to try. It just looks like so much fun, and I really want to learn how to do it and where to get all the stuff for it. Like what is nori, and how do you make faces out of it? And where do you get the little cutters for the tiny shapes?Thanks!!!

Like these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitsa_sakurako/2330728205/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitsa_sakurako/448622699/

Answer 1

If you have any $1 stores near you (like the ones in Japan that sells Japanese things), that would be extremely helpful for you supplies. Not too sure if there are any on the mainland, but surely there are stores that sell asian things. Here's a link that may help you...

Answer 2

Here is a good place to buy them:

http://shop.iloveobento.com/collections/...

This is a good blog site too:

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

Answer 3

Nori is sheets of Japanese seaweed. You can make different facial features by cutting little squares, circles (nose), ovals (eyes) and triangles (kitty ears) using clean scissors. Or, you can use clean decorative hole punchers (like the kind for scrap booking).

If you don't have a Japanese market near you, you can purchase online at www.japansuper.com