This tradition all started when my eldest daughter began school. With a newborn at home, my wife wanted to make her feel special, so she began cutting fun shapes into her sandwiches. A few days later, I took over and discovered it was much easier—and far more entertaining—to draw directly on the lunch bags themselves. What started as a simple gesture quickly became a daily ritual that has grown into so much more.

Over the years, my daily cartoon ritual has evolved into a collection of thousands of sandwich bag drawings, a coffee table book, and even two art gallery exhibitions. It’s been amazing to see how these silly little toons have connected with people all over the world.

The end of the 2024 year marks a bittersweet milestone for our Sandwich Bag family, as my eldest daughter has graduated high school and will now no longer need her daily lunch bag doodles. It’s the end of an era, as she was the one who inspired this tradition over 12 years ago. While her lunch bag journey has come to a close, I still have two younger daughters keeping me on my toes, so there’s no respite just yet! The challenge continues, but so does the fun—and the puns!

For those that are wondering, the drawings below are all absolutely 100% genuine photos of the lunch bags that my kids take to school! All my posts show just the ‘before’ shots. While some of the bags make it onto classroom walls, most come home crumpled and worn after spending a few hours holding sandwiches. Eventually, the majority end up in the recycling bin. It’s a fun, fleeting tradition, but one that makes even the most ordinary school lunches a little more special!

Coming up with three unique designs every day is a real challenge! I aim to tailor each bag to my kids’ interests, what they’re learning at school, or simply whatever inspires me that day—whether it’s current events or something that makes me chuckle. My ultimate goal is to uncover the dad joke hidden in any situation. With everything going on in the world, I believe it’s more important than ever to share a smile and some light-hearted fun.

I can proudly say that I’ve never “skipped a day” in over 12 years. The only times my kids haven’t taken a bag to school are when they’re sick (which is rare) or occasionally choose to buy lunch from the canteen. Even then, I still have to prepare at least one bag, making this a relentless but rewarding tradition. To stay ahead, I use weekends and school holidays to build up a buffer of designs, ensuring I’m never under pressure to create three new bags every single night.

You can follow my sandwich bag chronicles on Instagram, and Facebook, or check out my previous posts on Bored Panda.