15 Fantastic Custom Made Lunch Boxes

Summer has officially ended, which means all the youngsters are headed back to school, new lunch boxes in hand. If you’re looking for a cool new lunchbox for your kiddo or for yourself, here are some of the coolest custom lunch boxes and bags around.

1. Kicking It Old School

Anyone who loves retro gaming will dig this cool NES lunch box made by DeviantArt user sealsouch. That's not the only NES lunch box: Redditor Masennus designed his to use the controller and the controller cord as the handle on the lunchbox.

2. It’s All Fun and Games At Lunch

Prefer your gaming to be a little more modern? Then perhaps you’d feel more at home with an X Box lunchbox like this one designed by Craftster user ClemiesGirl.

3. Is It Lunch Yeti?

Like cryptozoology and silly puns? Then you’ll love this lunchbox by Craftster user SpookyPooky that features an adorable cartoon yeti and a bad joke.

4. Cute Crochet Carrier

Amigurumi characters are all too adorable—and popular with the kiddies. If you’re looking for a perfect lunch bag for your little one, you could always try making your own with this turtle bag pattern from Ravelry user Ana Paula Rimoli.

5. As Cool As It Gets

For those handy geeks who care way more about function than style, this lunchbox hack is a brilliant way to ensure your food stays nice and cool. Instructables user kcbford1 uses a small computer fan, two frozen bottles of water, and a metal plate to cool off his bag from the top down. He just plugs in the fan to the USB port on his computer and the cool air from around the iced water bottles spreads out to the rest of the food. You can follow in his footsteps with this tutorial, assuming you have the technical knowhow.

6. Hot and Cold

Having your lunch cooled by a USB device is great and all, but what if you work outside or if you want your meal to stay warm? In that case, you’ll need to rely on this Instructable by simonvp that shows how to use a solar plate, a Peltier element and a few other supplies to make a solar-powered lunchbox that can keep things hot or cold.

7. A Steampunk Rocker

This steampunk box by Etsy seller oldjunkyardboutique may not technically be labeled as a lunch box, but one look at it will tell you that it was just made to carry a steampunker’s lunch at a convention. Of course, if you try to make your own steampunk lunch box, you may want to incorporate the heating and cooling elements from the previous lunch boxes and install a working temperature gauge on the front—making it both fanciful and functional, the epitome of great steampunk design.

8. No Soggy Sandwiches In The Floppy Disk Box

Similarly, this recycled floppy disk bag isn’t labeled as being exclusively for lunch-carrying, but it does have lunch box as a tag, so Etsy seller GeekkiBoutikki certainly thought it would function well as one. It’s the perfect blend of geek chic and eco-friendly.

9. A Pouch Made of Pouches

Wish there was a way you could get more use out of those Capri Sun pouches your youngster chugs down at lunch? Make a new lunch bag out of everyone’s favorite beverage-in-a-pouch. Thrifty Fun can guide you through the simple sewing process. Alternatively, you can also try this tutorial by Instructables user mommyknows1 on turning the similar Kool Aid Jammers into a lunch bag.

10. The Manliest Lunch Bag Around

Like the classic look of a brown paper sack but wish it was a bit more classy and reusable? Then head over to Etsy shop LifelessLeatherCo to get your hands on this great insulated leather lunch bag with a sweet mustache detailing.

11. It Only Looks Vintage

If you glanced at this lunchbox for only a second, you’d probably just assume it is one of the classic vintage Thermos lunch boxes for kids. But when you give it a second look, you’ll quickly see that it’s actually a hand-painted design based on the very adult HBO program, The Wire. Artist Bart Gold did a fantastic job making the modern TV show have a classic lunchbox layout, inspired, in part, by the layout of the Welcome Back Kotter boxes of the 70s.

12. Breaking Bad Looks So Good

Here’s another of Bart Gold’s delightful adult lunchbox creations, this one featuring Jesse and Walt from Breaking Bad looking happily fascinated by the science of meth-making. These aren’t Gold’s only designs: He also has one featuring characters from Sons of Anarchy and one based on Six Feet Under.

13. This Box Isn’t Child’s Play

Speaking of adult lunchboxes, this Child’s Play lunch box by DeviantArt user Kreepy Kustoms is perfect for anyone with a soft spot for horror flicks.

14. Dawn of the Lunch

If you prefer zombies over evil dolls, you’ll dig Kreepy Kustoms’ Dawn of the Dead lunchbox instead. While he won’t sell you any of the designs already on his DeviantArt page, Kreepy Kustoms is open to commissions and will make a custom lunchbox loaded with images from any of your favorite horror flicks.

15. My Little Gory Pony

For those that like a little cuteness with their horror, DeviantArt user Laquera based this My Little Disemboweled Pony lunchbox on a joke from Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse. Despite the intestines coming out of the black pony, it’s still surprisingly adorable.

Do any of you have cool custom lunchboxes of your own, or do you go with the commercial ones?