Bento Box

I always found it a hassle to stand in line in the heat or cold for a mediocre school lunch. If you came late, all of the better food would be gone. So, I though I should bring a lunch box! I would be able to bring what food I want and not waste time standing in line. I though it would be fun to design my own bento box, and so I did.

I wanted a multilayered lunchbox that was portable like the two examples above.

I based the snap lock (the white bit at the side of my bento box) off of some air-tight food containers I had at home. I added an image as an example above.

But, I wanted to make this bento box my own. So, I made the base color a nice blue since, who doesn't like blue? I put a flowing purple flower design in the front, creeping to the sides, and to the top; since I like purple, and I thought a flowing flower would pair nicely with a nice, calming, sky blue. The rest of the parts would be white or yellow.

My bento box is simple and easy to use. It is fairly simple to wash as you can pop it in the dish washer, and has a handle so you could hold it or attach it to your bag so you don't clutter your backpack!

I made mine with 2 boxes; the bottom one is for either soup or rice, and the top one is for rice (if you didn't put soup), something to eat with the rice (like meat or vegan products), vegetables, fruit, and/or snacks.

I didn't add a place for utensils, so you'd probably put it in the bottom compartment if there's rice, or bring it with you in a plastic bag if there's soup. It's a little inconvenient, but this way, the utensils wont get dirty from any sauce or juice from the food. I could've added them in a completely different compartment inside the lid, but I didn't know how to start something like that.

I added a handle on the top so you could hold it or attach it to your bag. The white part would ideally be made of fabric for a more comfortable grip. The yellow bits would just be there to attach the fabric to the bento box lid and would be made out of the same material as the bento box.

(I didn't have a ruler on me at the time I was creating my bento box so I didn't realize it was so small while making it. So, double the values you see in the first image.)

The first picture I have shown is the base sketch of my bento box, a 9in by 6in rectangle with a fillet of 0.7in. I then extruded it to be 7in (3.50in) tall.

The next three images are of the snap lock that connects the lid and the bento boxes together. The curve of the white bit would catch the lip I made on the outside of the bento box to keep it securely in place, but still be able to come loose if tugged on. The image after that is a drawn example of how it works. The next image is of what I based the mechanism on; some airtight food containers.

The last three images are about the lip on the inside of the bento box that would make the bento boxes fit and connect together more securely as well as ensuring that nothing much spills out; though of course, soup would be a different story. However, I would imagine that the lip would be lined with something like rubber or silicone for a more air-tight seal like the food containers, and maybe the bento box would have something that's able to keep the heat inside for the food to be warm till lunch. The very last picture is a diagram of the inside lip of my bento box for a clearer visual image.

You could change the color or design of the bento box as you like. You can see some of the examples I made here.

You could have an underwater design, different colored flowers, maybe different types of flowers, no flowers, a sun design, or even no handle.

I'm quite happy with my bento box, and I hope you like it too!