Cute-ing it up around The Boswell House

Recently, I read an article pertaining to Gudetama (A Japanese character I've fallen madly in love with.) This article spoke to me, in an odd, but internally profound way. The concept of "cute" existing on varying levels and becoming an essential part of day-to-day life. That's something I want to sink my teeth into. Also, in case you haven't clicked the article yet and you're still wondering "so, wait, what's a Gudetama?" here's a preview:

If you're curious what I'm talking about when I bring up the concept of "cute" here's a snippit from the article that really inspired me, especially the very last part. [Refer back to Gudetama]
"Cute is more than just a look. It has the power to change us, be the salve to our greatest frustrations and fears, and perhaps show us something in ourselves that we didn’t know we needed — especially if your true self is an egg with a butt and a distaste for life."

One of the more fun and simple ways to introduce some cute into my day-to-day is the kitchen. I dug a little deeper into those adorable photos I've seen on Instagram & Pinterest, Bento they call it. Turns out, many Bento ideas and recipes call for rice. We already have a super cute Japanese rice cooker (it dings in song when it starts and when it's done!) Recently at a Korean market here in town I scored an adorable Rice Paddle. What better to inspire me to start cooking more rice than these two cuties?

Next up in kitchen accessories collection: SHAPES!
They're basically mini cookie cutters. But you can use them to stamp out shapes from almost anything you're eating. Meat, cheese, veggies.

There's 2 things I love about this packaging: 

1. That they're just called "kitchen thing" 

2. That this one doesn't have one English word on it

Some advice I collected from avid Bento-ers is to have your supplies (including silicone dividers) accessible and ready. So, I carved out some space. (I also ordered those silicone dividers)

I've attempted a few so far, I'm no where near the level of the adorable things I've seen on teh internets, but I am still inspired. Why not open up an adorable lunch to cheer you up on a stressful day? Here's a look at my lunches to date:

So far my biggest learning curves are that I feel wasteful, and need to sort out how to utilize all the parts. I also need to learn to really stuff those buggers FULL and - fresh bell peppers fight back! While pickled bell peppers cut like a dream!

Another cute addition to the kitchen, these spoons!

These were actually a birthday present for Dylan, for a couple of reasons. See the happy face with whiskers on the left? That's Doraemon, a Japanese character he's loved since childhood. Plus, he had already embraced adding cute to your daily life and he didn't even know it! Part of what motivated me to get these spoons for him is that he likes to stir up coffee & drinks with cute little spoons. Heh. It works perfectly! Although, they get pretty lost in the utensil drawer with the rest of the spoons. So I took the same advice about making them readily accessible, found a super cute shot glass, and further cuted up our already adorable cutting board/morning station.

Next up on the cute train: adding a little curb appeal to the ol' homestead.
The plants by the front door have been an ongoing saga, but usually they die. Some die quickly, others hang on for a while. We let the last set of dead ones just sit there dead, for way too long. Way, way, way too long. But, we finally got some new ones, and hopefully they live a good long life!
(Never mind the winding cactus, he is immortal and has lived through lots of room-mates and some serious bouts of over or under watering on our part.)

This one's called a "Mexican Petunia" I love petunias! There's hope here. 

By the way, wish these little guys luck living with us, eh? 

This plant, however, this is the show stopper. Look at him!! It's tiny little baby saguaro!! 

I'm not kidding you, itty bitty little fella! 

See?! SO CUTE! I could cuddle it, if not for those thorns.

Our neighbor grew this fella from seed, we followed the saguaro protocol of planting it facing the same direction, we've given it frequent but not over-abundant waterings and we're hoping he sticks with it. Though, come to think, on our neighbor's property he was shaded ... crap, hon! Maybe let's build him a little shade thing!!! 

We also brought some plant love inside, repotting a few of our old faithfuls and replacing a few that - well lets face it. Dylan and I neglected them to death. 

This is the only photo I have of the process, but it was nice. Communing with nature and what not. Maybe we'll keep it up. I said maybe. 

With all this cute in the air, and perhaps an idea swiped from the good ol' internets, we decided to make Fathers Day gift baskets for our parents. We decided to stick with edible gifts, and opted for jerky, salami & cheese + gummy bears. Here's how they came together: 

I had this cute little wooden crate I gave to my dad, it had this fantastic lid! It was a real, tiny crate! 

Does it get cuter than that? 

For Dylan's step father we jazzed up a cardboard box we had on hand: 

Not too shabby.

There you have it! Boswell adventures in cute! I really hope to keep it up, and if I get better at Bento or find more fantastic cuteness worth sharing, I'll make sure to do so. 

See you guys next time!