Hello Everyone!
It's time for another Kawaii & Cute on a budget! Today I'll be showing you where you can find cute lunch time apparel - It thought this would be a great idea as this is something everyone can do whether you work in an office like me, are still at school or spend your days at home, everyone can have a cute lunchtime! My favourite places to buy this kind of thing online is eBay, Aliexpress and Taobao. I'll be concentrating mostly on eBay for this post as this is probably the place where most people have access too. It's probably work noting that you can also find Kawaii & Cute lunchtime bits offline in quite a few £stores, Paperchase & Paperchase (Likely to be expensive unless in a sale), and, oddly Primark.
So let's start with lunch boxes! These are a pretty good staple for any lunch time - you can transport your food about without worrying about it getting squashed and ruined. The other great thing about using a box is that unless its a big single space type, you don't need to use individual sandwich bags which a) saves your money and b) saves the planet as there is less waste! I have quite a few lunch boxes now - different types for different foods. I have a couple that are air tight, a few stackable and one thermos one (I won't be sharing this one as it's boring and really doesn't keep the food that warm! I'm looking for a new one).
I found quite a few cute lunch boxes on eBay very easily (you'll get a better selection if you set the search to world wide and don't mind waiting around 2 weeks for it to be delivered. Most range from £2+ but if you watch a few of the auctions many start at £0.01! You can quiet easily get a bargain - its worth looking at the store as well as you may be able to find the item with a relatively low buy it now price if the auction goes above your budget.
Just an example of what you can get if you look world wide - I bought this kawaii hamburger lunch box for a whole £1.42!! That included shipping as well. It has 3 sections plus a little fork and spoon included. I'd really recommend the store uarenice - They have a ton of cheap cute items and the people running it are very lovely - there was a problem with the delivery of my lunch box, the shipping label was damaged by the rain and returned to the store. They contacted me to let me know and to ask if I still wanted the lunch box or whether they should refund me. Since I was in no rush I opted to have it resent so they re-packaged and resent it out and it arrived around two weeks later. wrapped up securely in bubble wrap and cellophane. It's exactly as it looks in the picture, and is made out of a very durable plastic, so for the money it's an excellent buy as I think it will last a very long time.
Something else I've seen pop up a lot recently is insulated bags - these are a cheap and fantastic option for keeping your food cool with an ice pack in the summer months or for keeping thermos pots warm that little bit longer. I bought the bag on the left in pink from Glasscitypool - this arrived mega quickly considering it came all the way from Hong Kong! This fits my round pots and keeps soup or porridge warm for a couple of hours at a time. If I use it with my thermos pot it does keep soup just warm enough till lunch time if I heat it up at 7:30am. There are quite a few different bags like this on eBay at the moment and most are £2+ - if you buy one make sure you buy one with a foil lining to keep it insulated! The one on the right is really cute and I may well buy this one for keep sandwiches and drinks cold in the summer months as it looks like it might be a little bigger than the one on the left.
On the subject of drinks how about one of these cute bottles or mugs? I will point out though, that there is no point in buying a cheap bottle or flask - it'll just leak ever where and soak everything (Been there, done that!) You'll probably want to spend around £5+ for a decent bottle - preferably one that is leak proof or at least has a rubber seal around the top. For mugs and glasses though, go nuts! You can find super cute ones starting from as little as £0.01 and a lot will offer free postage, so you can really spend as much or as little as you want. Again changing the search parameters to world wide means you will get a better selection in your search results - there are some absolutely adorable cups from Japan available for world wide shipping.
On the subject of cups, how about one of these cup covers for £0.99? They come in a variety of designs and will keep dust and other nasty things out - they'll probably keep your hot drinks warmer for longer as well.
For those of you that just want a quick sandwich and don't need a whole lunch box, try looking for cute cellophane bags - there's a whole load of different baggies available to keep your food fresh in! These are usually very cheap too and can bought be bought in multiples of 10-100. You could also use these for giving cookies or treats to friends in.
Lastly I found these kawaii bento accessories! You could make all sorts for your lunch with these - just search for Bento accessories and see what you can find!
I hope you've found today's Kawaii & Cute on a budget fun and helpful! If you'd like to request a segement for K/COB you can let me know in the comments below or on the sites facebook page - I love getting requests from my readers so please don't be shy!
Ta-ta for now,
X
