Breaking down the goodie bags

Well, you all know who won the election and you surely must know how thrilled I am. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to run for an elected office. And guts, did I mention guts? Sadly, the local and state candidates I worked for lost, with one exception. Could I have done more? Possibly, but one can only do so much. Like so many Democrats, I'm in a red state feeling blue.

EXCEPT for the top spot in the country, of course. Last night when all the networks called the election for the President I think the neighbors probably heard the cheers coming from our house. Most of the neighbors weren't cheering.

Anyway. Denise, who came up with some great goodie-bag ideas, asked that I not mail one to her, but requested pictures. So today's belated post is a little photo-heavy. Apologies in advance, I tried to shrink and optimize them down so they would still look good but load quickly.

Ready for distribution. These are just plain white favor bags from Hobby
Lobby. I downloaded the Obama sunrise logo and printed it on sticker paper.

The scrubby sponge needed an explanation, easily accomplished by
printing a tag on business card stock, punching a hole in the corner
and then threading and attaching it with butcher's twine.

Was it Winnie who suggested printing labels for Hershey Nuggets? Genius!
(And you never sent me your address, Winnie, if you still want a bag
let me know and I'll send you one.)

The cute little flip-flop keychains I found at Party City.

I designed these and printed them on magnetic paper in my inkjet printer,
then trimmed them with a paper cutter.

Custom covers for blank notepads. The binding at the top is Washi tape.

Obamacillin – the cure for Romnesia. Strangely, though, they taste just like M&Ms.

Another business-card stock project. I printed these tags two-up and cut them
in half, since a little ring didn't need a big tag. Hole punch, baker's twine, done.

This was a great idea, thanks, Denise. I printed the messages on plain paper,
cut, folded and glued them and tucked a teabag inside. Everyone loved them.

My personal favorite of all the favors. We're ready to start campaigning
for the first female President of the United States!

Thanks again for your patience with me the past couple (few?) months. I'm going to try to get back to the blog's mission of knitting, running walking, reaping and eating. You're welcome. Heh.

Wow!

Y'all must throw some pretty cool parties! Thanks for all the suggestions for favors in yesterday's comments. Keep 'em coming!

If you're a new reader, feel free to jump in. I'm looking for election-night party ideas that are small enough to fit in a lunch bag and that I can make myself. (Yes, Denise, with what I have on hand.) If you leave a comment by 6 p.m. EDT today, you'll be entered in a random drawing to win one of the swag bags I'm giving away at the party.

I actually did have blue mardi gras beads on my shopping list, Jen, but haven't found them in quantity. I've found them online, but it's too late to get them shipped on time without spending an arm and a leg. And you know what? I don't have an extra arm or leg right now.

What I do have is a trip to North Carolina, beginning Wednesday and returning Saturday. I'll be in the Triangle area. AND I have some non-family time to myself on Thursday, when everyone will be at work or school. Party City here I come!

Here's another one I thought of – you Democrats will love it. I bought some blank 3x5 note pads and will glue on these clever new covers I made yesterday:

• The Complete Romney/Ryan Foreign Policy Plan
• The Unwavering Views of Willard Mitt Romney
• The Compassion of Willard Mitt Romney
• The Complete Romney/Ryan Plan for Restoring America
• Willard Mitt Romney's Complete Tax Returns

I love that last one the best. Heh.

In other news, the storms are converging from both the northwest and the southeast and will wreak havoc on parts of West Virginia. Fortunately not my part, but I feel badly for those in the bright-red blizzard zone.

We were originally expecting 5 to 8 inches of snow. Now the weather service is saying maybe an inch today, and little to no additional accumulation tomorrow. But it will be windy, and we're all a little skittish about wind after this summer's derecho. If you pray, please pray that our power remains on. Thank you.

Finally, to answer a just-received comment, here's the Electoral College map I'm using. I think. My husband is going to come up with some pertinent facts and we're going to add a list of swing states. I'm going to remove the verbiage that's already there. If this doesn't suit your purposes, Jen, check Google Images for Electoral College Map 2012. I'm glad my husband is as knowledgeable as he is, because he took one look at my first download and said, "Um, that's the 2008 map."

How did he remember that Texas picked up four more EC votes this election? 'Tis not for me to question, I'm just glad he helped prevent me from looking stupid!