I sent in my four pieces for the JapanLA Anniversary and Art Show, and I thought I would share photos of each one every day this week. I’ve always been dying to crochet some bento boxes, and this art show was really the perfect opportunity for it, since the theme is Super Kawaii Food Art.

Kind of a weird thing happened while I was crocheting these boxes. At first I really liked the idea of the food looking back at you, faces and bodies pressed against a plastic window. Then the process became less an aesthetic experience and a little bit more of an emotional one. I kind of joked about it with Manda. I was like, “This is like putting together lunches for my unborn children.” I’m generally pretty sarcastic and I’ve never been much of a kid-person, but the joke came from some place inside me a little bit real. I’m potentially having a lil solo show in September in LA (dates and details and everything are still in the works), and I’ve become obsessed with working on an entire Box Lunch theme, based on lunches I would make for people I love. We’ll see. I’m not usually that sentimental when it comes to my crocheting, but, I really really REALLY loved the experience of making my bentos! I’m usually into creating patterns and pieces that have a function and that don’t just sit around on a shelf, but these were definitely made to simply hang on a wall (even though all the food pieces are all still loose and removable inside) and have no actual use besides cuteness. I suppose a person could turn them into keychains, hair clips, pins, etc, if they felt like it, but I decided to leave them as is.

So here’s the first one. I already showed you guys this one in my blog entry for the art show, but here are more photos of it and more close-ups to start off the week.

HOT DOG OCTOPUS on rice. With broccoli and cherry tomatoes.

JapanLA is celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary with a fun party and art show! Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 11, 6pm-10pm! They are celebrating with a Super Kawaii Food Art Show and party! They will have a bunch of super cute food related items in store for the party too! AND A CHURRO BAR TRUCK!!!!!!!!! I really want to go, but I’m not sure I can make it. We’ll see…! But if you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out. I will have a crocheted bento box series there. Here’s a sneak peek of one of them!

I’m so obsessed with hot dog octopus bento right now that I cannot even function. More pics soon!

When someone asks if they can send you a roller skating unicorn pin … YOU SAY YES. These amazing pins are by one of my faves, Ugly Baby. You might know her more for her shower art, which I have in my bathroom, but she has some other fun stuff in her shop like these guys!

She sent me two pins – one for me, and one for a friend. But I sorta took them both… and used them as collar pins! If you want to pick up one of your own,  hit up Ugly Baby on Etsy!

p.s. this dress if from Kee Boutique, and I don’t know if I got big or it got small, but now I can no longer zip it all the way up without feeling like a tightly stuffed gingham sausage.

I have a super cute new giveaway for you guys! One of the things I really like about this giveaway is the possibility that you will pass the prize onto someone else for a special occasion.

Momiji dolls are message dolls. Not only are they colorful and adorable and come in all different designs and personalities, but they also have little slots on the bottom for a small slip of paper that you can write a special message on. Give a cute Momiji doll as a birthday present, anniversary present, thank-you present, wedding present, or just an everyday hey-I-like-you present. Each doll is packaged in a sturdy capsule box with his/her name and likes. Momiji also often works with other designers around the world to bring you special collaborations and limited editions. To be honest, I was really sad to miss out on the 2008 Yota Sampasneethumrong collab. I mean, really, I LOVE THESE SO MUCH. Actually, I blogged about them in 2012!

Momiji sent me some cute dolls to show you guys. Here’s what the dolls look like when they arrive.

From left to right, I got Snug Bug, BFF Dina, Thank You (I think we kinda look alike, don’t you?), and BFF Liona.

#myfaceforscale

Here’s a video of me unboxing them for the first time:

TWO lucky winners will be able to select one core Momiji doll of their own (does not include limited edition and doll must be in stock at winners’ local hub). Simply use the Rafflecopter widget below for all your ways to enter. I’m also running a separate giveaway for one more doll on Instagram. Giveaway is open worldwide and will run until Wednesday, June 1st at midnight PDT. Winner must be 18 or over and must also respond to my email within 24 hours or I will choose a new winner. Winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter/Random.org. Please make sure that twinkie@twinkiechan.com will get through your spam filters. While Momiji will pay for shipping your prize, you are responsible for any possible customs or duty charges. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. No giveaway accounts please! A giveaway account is a social media account that you use only to post about giveaways. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Okay, so, I don’t know if you remember my post about the loaf kitties, but I mentioned that my buddy Candace showed me a shop called Tokyo Otaku Mode, and we have been linking cute stuff to each other since! I am now a TOM affiliate, so while this post is not sponsored, I do get a small percentage of the sale if you buy anything from the store with one of the links on my blog. ALSO, they gave me a 10% off code for you guys: TwinkieTOM. It only lasts until the end of May! I think if you sign up using this link, we both get a $5 credit to shop, too [[edit: actually it looks like it’s not $5 but $10 worth of TOM points instead. I’m sorry I misunderstood!!]]. Phew. That’s a lot of info! Now let’s take a look at some of my current favorites!

For plushies, I am loving all of these dudes:

Peropero Sparkles Plush Mascots, Bananya Pencil Case, Tsuchineko Chabushi Plush, Rainbow Pockets Teddy Bears

In J-Fashion, I put these on my wishlist:

Donut Socks, Swankiss Cherry Motif Top, Flapper Cat Tail Fur Bag, Honey Salon Bunny Ballet Flats

There’s also a big Figures and Dolls section, but to be honest, I’m not a big collector of those, nor do I know a lot of the characters, so I can’t really select a favorites list from that particular part of the shop. But I hope you have a look at the TOM website and take advantage of the $5 off coupon from my sign-up link as well as the 10% coupon at checkout with the code TwinkieTOM!