Bento Box Creations from Convergence

My family just recently attended the sci-fi/fantasy/literature/anime/manga/gaming/general nerdiness convention "Convergence", which we have been going to every year for quite a while now, and we all had a very good time going to panels, watching movies, partaking of free food and drinks and looking at all the interesting cosplayers.

In past years I'd barely even noticed that there was a craft room at Convergence, since I spent so much time at panels or walking around, but this year I noticed some interesting-looking events that they had scheduled going on in that room, so I decided to try them out, and with a couple of them I found myself having a very enjoyable time.

One of these craft workshops, which I attended with my mother, was for the purpose of making bento boxes (Japanese boxed lunches). The purpose of bento is not just to fill them with tasty food, but to make them look appealing too (see various examples of cute bento boxes at the linked-to page).

So for the bento workshop everone sat down as volunteers began passing around various foods, fruits and vegetables, and then we all set about using various materials to make adorable and edible animals, flowers, people, etc. for our bento.

I, however, was (as usual) not satisfied with doing what everyone else was doing - I had to go outside of the box, to make something different, to use my creativity to its fullest capacity...

...which meant, of course, making an "ero bento" (ero being the Japanese term for "erotic").

I was inspired first to use the tips of a hot dog and little bits of carrot to make the boobs, and then I just had to cut a little penis out of a cucumber slice, and arrange them just so. Yes, I am that juvenile.

I also took photos of some of the other fun bento created by various people at the workshop. Below is my mother's delectable creation, complete with a non-traditional hot dog octopus.

Below is the only other bento with boobs, made by someone I didn't know. I'm not sure what the scene is supposed to depict, or what the creature is, but it's still a very fun lunch box.

Here's the bento made by someone at my table, with a little woman in a flounced grape dress with a cheese hair bow, and a clever rice head with vegetable features.

The next bento was made to look like a clever little scene. I'm not sure what it's suppose to be, other than what looks like a saint praying and what looks like the dead form of the Dread Pirate Roberts (from the film The Princess Bride), but it's very cool nonetheless.

And below is a cute little kitty that someone at another table sculpted out of rice and nori sheets.

So as you can see, the workshop was enormously successful and fun, and the room was just bursting with creativity - I know I definitely want to try making bento again in the future. There's something really satisfying about preparing food that's not only tasty, but creative (and maybe a little bit sexy) too.