The One Where I Used a Shop Bought Sandwich

Okay, so way longer that half an hour, cause I learnt more danish than I planned, had lunch and then watched some anime. As ya do. 

So ya know. 

So ya know. 

On the subject of so ya know, ya know when you see a new sandwich in M & S and you really want to try it but it's Wednesday and it is best before Thursday and it's not like ya go to M & S everyday and ya know...

Ya know?

So, here is a sandwich which I have tried very unsuccessfully to turn into a bento. 

Lets just take away like, 2 stars and move on. How bout that? And you can wonder why I ever bothered to post this and I can get on with the next five. Cause it really doesn't deserve to be labelled a bento. It isn't. 

P.S. And for those of you who are wondering- The sandwich is quite good. A little to mayonnaise-y for me tho. 

Practice Christmas

The Christmas holidays have started. I have enough homework so that if I stacked it up- it would probably be about a foot. Which is fine. Except that I am not exaggerating. Trouble is- I also have a whole load of blog posts to do. 

I will count, one moment.

Okay, so I have:

• 7 Christmas Bento's
• 2 Christmas Oatmeal's
• A Christmas Chow Mein
• A 'In Other, Less Interesting News' 

to do. 

Before we get onto new years, and ignoring the fall bento and the tea shop review and a few more bentos and a polenta recipe and ...

Yeah- like I said. I need to get going. And as I stood there in my pyjamas faced with like, 20 blog posts to get done- my Mom said better to have them all done BEFORE Christmas even if they're not brilliant than to have them all done perfectly in February. 

Today's challenge: get all the bento's done. That means that by midnight today- I should have 7 more posts than I did by midnight yesterday. In all seriousness, I may not survive. So they are not going to be perfect. It may just be picture, description, marking. But hey, nobodies perfect. And I have Christmas songs to keep me company. Every things okay. 

So, without further ado, cause we really don't have time for any, here's my practise Christmas bento:

A Christmas Pud Nakd bar (they are SO GOOD- one of my favorite flavours), a mini Babybel, some mini corn, some stuffing and some Quorn roast chicken style pieces. 

You wanna know why the mini corn is in there? Cause I had this bento around Halloween. But I had stuffing, I had the chicken, I had the Nakd bar cause they'd just come out and Dad suggested that I try  one before Christmas so I wasn't disappointed at Christmas if I didn't like them. He used the same logic to get a packet of mince pies. Because never, in his fifty something years, had he had a mince pie. (I'm holding up a sarcastic sine, for those of you who hadn't already guessed). 

And I mean, I had all that. I might as well just go with the flow, chuck it all together, and add a Rudolph nose Babybel. And some mini corn. AND SOME PANDA BEAR BENTO PICKS CAUSE I HAD JUST GOT SOME AND OH MY HOW CUTE!!!! *so kawaii*. 

My friends grandchild had a brilliant idea a few years back. He decided that they needed to have a practise Christmas. Cause last year was a long time ago. They might have forgotten how to do it. Practise presents, practise Christmas dinner, practise crackers with stupid hats, practise the works. He is going to grow up to be a Boy Scout I'm sure. (cause he was definitely prepared once Christmas came around!). 

I don't need to have a fully blown practise Christmas, I know what I'm doing, but if he can have a practise Christmas, I can have a Christmas Bento. Cause that's just how it goes. We're going with the flow guys. 

And hey, when I had this Bento, I WAS ACTUALLY SITTING EATING MY LUNCH WITH SOMEONE. FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT YEAR (don't say it, I know it's sad.) It was also the first time I didn't eat my lunch in the math's study area. Little victories, people, little victories. 

So... Now to assess (cause I've got like, 6 more to go after this.)

1. TIME This one didn't take long. Like, 2 minutes maybe. While I was making breakfast. But it really isn't much as far as bento cuteness go's, so we'll keep it at neutral. (A bit like the gear- have I told you that I'm learning to drive yet?) (But I'm in an automatic, you know, without the gears)

2. LEFTOVERS There were no leftovers produced from this bento. But you know what? Because I used up leftovers, (the stuffing and the mini corn) I will give myself a star here. Cause either way, I still reduced food waste. 

3. RECORDING Well loose a star and move on

5. BOXABILITY Everything fits in nicely. I'm proud of it. I mean, everything I wanted in there fits in, and there isn't any spare space for stuff to rattle around in and get all messed up. That would be :( But as it is, it's :) . So I'll give myself a star. 

7. CUTENESS Okay, so the lunch itself isn't that cute, but the picks? Instant cuteness!!!! But the lunch... we'll stay neutral. 

8. PLANNING I did not plan this one at all. It was more of a case of 'lets go with the flow'. So let's loose one star. 

9. EATING I ate most of it, but more importantly, I ate it with somebody, a friend. So hey, lets totally get a star for that. Well done Ana. 

So that is. Lets see. That's one star. Now, I'm gonna learn a bit of Danish (cause why not) then I'm going to move onto the next one (cause why not). 

See ya in, like, half an hour. 

How to Decorate a Hospital

Basically, THIS is how you decorate a hospital...

(Me, Mom and Dad did everything apart from the Christmas tree)

The pictures are from last year, (I am, thank fully, at home this year) from ROH in Brimingham. I'm kind of in a Christmassy mood, and I found this half finished post from last year, and thought I'd post it today, it being Advent Sunday an all. (And yes, I did have two advent calendars, one my parents bought me, and one the hospital gave me)

Mini Paper Chains

Hey, here's another post I wrote last year for you. No, I have absolutely no idea why it didn't get posted last year. 

 

I sat at home one afternoon and made this paper chain. (The red and white one below.)

Ah yes I do, I was waiting for someone to take a picture of the paper chain, but no one would. Just imagine it. 

It was very easy to do, they came in pre-cut strips, and you slotted the end with a tab into the end with a slit. (It took me about 30 minutes). When my brother came home, he very kindly pointed out that the paper chain (which was actually more of a card chain, and so even heavier) was too big to fit on our tree. 

I don't know why he said it, we'd never put our paper chains on our tree before. 

Just in case you couldn't tell from that picture, here is a photo of the tree, adding a bit of scale for you. 

Our tree this year is tiny. It's a real live Christmas tree, but it's tiny. It means that I don't trip over anything, and it also solves the problem of who's going to put up the tree this year as I can't, but it's too tiny to put presents under, which I must admit is my main worry. But apparently my brother's main worry is that the paper chain is too big. And so I decided to make him a mini paper chain. (It took me about 2 hours)

Mini Paper Chains

 I must say, it is pretty easy, if a bit fiddly. 

What You Need

2 Colors of Paper (you don't need a lot)

Glue Stick

Scissors

How to Do It

1. Cut strips out the colored paper. They were too small a strip for me to be bothered using a ruler, but feel free. Mine were about 1/8" by 1". So small. (Yes, you'll need more than 6)

2. Glue the first ring. Then, loop the second strip through the ring, and glue the second ring. Keep on going. 

3. And going

4. And going until you have the desired length of chain. It is really that simple. 

5. Use your paper chain to decorate whatever you want. We decorated our tree, but this chain would be perfectly at home decorating a dolls house. Or adding a 3D effect to a Christmas card.