Daiso haul

I'd love to hug the genius that invented the dollar store.  Especially the Japanese genius who invented Daiso.  My hubs recently went to Seattle, where THEY HAVE A DAISO (sadly, no Japanese dollar stores in our city), so I requested a few items.  Of course they're cute.  They're Japanese, ha!

The items pictured above are some cute bento-type items that I requested.  We just started solids with Kiyomi, but I'm planning ahead.  Time will tell whether I'll actually get around to crafting bentos full of fun-shaped food and edible marker decorations. The large pink cloths are 2 furoshiki.  They're basically square cloths that you use to wrap up your bento, or your fave potluck contribution.  You just put your casserole dish in the centre and tie opposite corners together.  It helps in transporting your mama's favourite crystal dish, so that you don't drop and destroy any family heirlooms, or delicious food.  Note the bright pink-ness of it all.  Below are some heart-shaped food picks (you stick them in food to pretty it up...it's like bling for your food!), and then there are kid's chopsticks, along with a contraption that actually trains you to use the chopsticks.  The multicoloured containers are made of silicone, as are the muffin cups, and I'm planning on using them to separate the delicious theoretical treats that will one day make it into our bentos.

Here are some extreme examples of bento artistry:

By BC Roll in Japan

And a slightly less extreme example:

By happylittlebento.blogspot.ca

The other items I got were onigiri (rice ball) molds, which make rice ball-ing SO much faster, some glue, lace tape and steel hooks.  I actually wanted s-hooks, so I could do this, but didn't mention that to the hubs, so it's completely my fault.  I'm really not sure where to use these little hooks now...ideas?

The best part about all of this is that most of these items only cost a DOLLAR, or close to that, anyway.  AMAZING!  I feel like starting a petition to bring a Japanese dollar store to our city.