I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom in San Francisco, & former expat fluent in Japanese. 
Bento Blog Search & design contest
After playing with the cool Food Blog Search and Veg Blog Search engines to search thousands of food blogs, I got to thinking. Why don’t the bento and packed lunch blogs have a similar search engine that brings up results only from our lunch blogs? So I’ve started to pull one together, including about 100 bento blogs on my Lunch Links page (still adding blogs in multiple languages).
It’s still a work in progress and I’m putting together a standalone web page for it in addition to the basic Google custom search page, If you’ve personalized your Google homepage, you can add a Bento Blog Search gadget to your homepage. All you have to do is click on this button:
I do have a favor to ask in the meantime. I’m not the most artistic person around, but will need graphics for the header and search widget logos (see the Food Blog Search widgets and Veg Blog Search widget for examples). Are you graphics-minded? Here’s your chance to leave a lasting impression on the bento blogging community!
If this is up your alley, design a header and search widget logo and e-mail them to me at bentoblogsearch (AT} gmail {DOT) com by Friday, January 16, 2009. If I wind up choosing your design for the bento blog search tool, I’ll send you a bento box gift bag with Skater bento box gear like those I’m offering for the Menu for Hope hunger charity and credit you on the Bento Blog Search website.
By the way, there are two days left on this year’s Menu for Hope raffle, which ends on December 24, 2008. Odds of winning the Pokemon bento box set are currently about three times better than winning the Hello Kitty bento set, so it’s something to keep in mind. All proceeds go to the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest food aid agency. Specifically, this year’s donations will benefit the school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa.
FURTHER READING:
- Shopping guide for bento gear in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Online store list for bento gear, and the international Bento Store Locator with Google Maps
- Bento recipes on Lunch in a Box
- Bento FAQ and Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and reviews
December 23rd, 2008 | Categories: admin, giveaway | 
Print This Post
| 
Email this post
Loading ...
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
Can you post a deadline for us? I would love to contribute but I’m about to embark on my holiday travels and I want to know how much time I’ll have to work on this when I get back.
Thanks!
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:55 am
@1 from Tracy: Okay, why don’t we say by Friday, January 16. I’ll update the post once I’m back at my computer.
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Wah, I wish I had money to donate. If only my roommate didn’t ditch on the lease leaving me her bill. ><
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Two questions…
1. What dimensions would you like (particularly for the header?)
2. Are we allowed to use pictures of your bento creations in our designs? (I don’t really have time or money to make my own unfortunately).
Thanks! ^.^
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
@4 from GoAngel: I’m flexible on header size, so width can be from 500-600px, and height from 150-200px. You may use my bento photos if you like, although original drawings are also much appreciated.
December 24th, 2008 at 6:51 am
Ooh, how exciting! This is gonna be great! How do you even go about starting something like that?
December 25th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I’ve seen links to those blog search tools before but never paid much attention to them. I gave them a look and the results were very good. Thanks for posting.
December 26th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
oh how cool! wish i could make things like that.
haha, but i’m looking forward to this new tool you’re creating, biggie!
December 29th, 2008 at 9:12 am
What a good idea to create that group!
December 29th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
here is a cool thing - USB heated Bento Box
http://gadgets.3yen.com/category/gadgets/
December 30th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
First of all, I just want to say that I really enjoy your blogs! They’ve inspired me to start making more creative lunches for school rather than just a PB&J sandwich, haha.
But anyway, I’m interested in the whole header/logo design thing, but I had a question. Are we allowed to submit multiple entries? Thanks!
Keep blogging and packing lunches!
December 31st, 2008 at 1:24 am
@11 from Angie: Absolutely! If you’d like to submit multiple entries, I’d welcome it. Thanks for your interest!
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
??? ?????????? ????
…
April 7th, 2009 at 6:34 am
emm. 10x..