Tutorial Bento Miffy Sandwich Free Pattern download

Due to popular request on how I made the Miffy sandwich bento (or some say Nijntje Boterham), I have decided to post a step-by-step tutorial here.

First I drew out the shape of Miffy / Nijntje on a piece of paper and then I cut it around the edges with a pair of scissors. Next I place it on a slice of goat cheese as shown in the picture below.

Tutorial Bento Miffy Sandwich

Using a sharp knife (or a toothpick), I go around the outside edge of the Miffy cutout just like the picture below. It looks a little weird at this stage, but don't worry. It's just the outline.

Miffy twins ?

I went back to the paper cutout and I cut away the pieces just like so:

Next I sliced a piece of carrot and fitted Miffy's clothes on it. Now I use my sharp knife to cut out the shape of Miffy's orange dress.

Here is how my Miffy Sandwich / Nijntje Boterham Bento looks like:

Since I ran out of seaweed, I have used black Supercook Writing Icing (which I managed to find in a bakery supplies store) for Miffy's eyes and mouth. Because it is used only in a small quantity, it doesn't taste obviously sweet.

I have drawn up a copy of the Miffy character I made for this bento here so that you can make this Miffy Sandwich bento too. Simply print this out on a regular A4 size paper and you can use it as a template. I hope you like this tutorial and please feel free to come back often for more goodies :)

Bento Miffy Sandwich Nijntje Boterham

Today's bento features Nijntje, also known as Miffy internationally, which is one of my favourite characters when I was growing up. When I was young, I remember my mom reading the books to me. Sometimes we would go to the library and I would pick out the books by the basket, literally begging her to bring all of them home. hahaha!
Many people might not know, but this little rabbit has Dutch origins and goes by her Dutch name Nijntje. Her creator Dick Bruna created this character in 1955 after telling his grandson stories about a little rabbit they had seen in the woods in Utrecht. Nijntje (pronounced roughly as "NAI-n-je" in the English way) was the typical child's pronunciation for Konijntje which means little rabbit in Dutch.

Although Nijntje is drawn with barely a few lines, it is instantly recognisable as a rabbit. Soon the character Nijntje becomes an instant hit internationally. Dick design his Nijntje books with minimal dialogues (some even without dialogues) because he thinks that the illustrations should speak for themselves and also because the books were also meant for children as learner books. Nijntje's books soon got translated into many languages and exported into many countries in the world, including Japan. But there was a big problem because not many people can pronounce Nijntje's dutch name. Soon, Nijntje got another name that is easier to pronounce, MIFFY. This is why all translations of Nijntje referred to her as Miffy, or at least with a phonetic translation that sounds like Miffy.

Bento Miffy Sandwich Nijntje Boterham

Many think that Miffy is Japanese, because Sanrio's Hello Kitty and friends are drawn using a similar line style. In addition, the Miffy brand is popular in Japan and there is a lot of Japanese-made Miffy merchandise. To complicate things a little more, Hello Kitty found a friend called Cathy in 1976. Just like Miffy, Cathy is also a rabbit who doesn't talk much and is drawned in a similar fashion. Of course Dick Bruna wasn't very happy about it and there was a long love/hate relationship between the company that owns Miffy, namely Mercis BV and Sanrio. On November 2, 2010, a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Sanrio raised an appeal soon after.

Following the 2011 March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Sanrio and Mercis BV settled the lawsuit out of court under the condition that Sanrio must stop worldwide production of merchandise that feature Cathy. Instead of continuing the court battle like most big companies are likely to do, the two companies will donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims, which I thought was rather sweet of both of them.

Ok, I think this post is getting rather long. Sorry I got carried away, hahaha, because I really love Nijntje / Miffy a lot and she reminds me a lot of my childhood. I hope you like this Miffy Sandwich Bento or should I say Nijntje Boterham Bento as much as I do :)

Bento Easy Roll-up Sandwich

After a few days of making rice-based bentos, I have decided to make a sandwich bento for a change. This is an roll-up sandwich bento is an easy one and is great for busy mornings.

For this bento, I used the usual square white bread easily available in the supermarket. Because the bread I have is slightly dry, I placed it in the microwave for about 10 seconds so that it gets softer and is easier to roll. Next I remove the crust and put in whatever filling I have on hand. It happened to be cheese and salami today, but jam and butter works well too :D Next I roll it up and secure it with a food pick.

I place the sandwich rolls in the bento box and stuff in some left over salad. (This salad was sold already cut in the supermarket near my place, so I didn't have to do anything) Add in the star and its done. I hope you like this easy roll-up sandwich bento!

Bento Leftover Fried Rice Salami Cheese Star

Today's bento post is a quick and easy one. It's largely made of leftover from dinner on the previous day, which happens to be fried rice with corn beef. After filling up the bento box, I placed the big cheese star and the little bits of lettuce. Smaller salami stars follow next and the eyes and mouth come in the last.

Bento Leftover Fried Rice with cheese and salami star

The bento box I used here is called the Ojue Bento Box, while the cheese and salami stars are made from a 6-in-1 plastic cookie cutter from Daiso. Hope you like this fried rice leftover bento with salami and cheese stars :)