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.

Here she comes

So Sandy (I'm assuming Sandy is a girl name, although I worked for a man named Sandy for many years once upon a time), a tropical storm of which I knew nothing until Thursday, is scheduled to drop a lot of precipitation over the northeast next week. We will get an outer band of it, beginning this weekend. Probably. One never knows with the weather.

If temperatures remain moderate, we will get rain and more rain. But it could be snowing by Halloween.

At least today will be temperate. My husband and I are headed to the state capitol for the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, the Democratic party's annual fund-raising event. We've never been to one before, but since our county Democratic Executive Committee picked me as their Democrat of the Year, well, we're excited to be going. More hobnobbing with politicians! Who doesn't want to do that 10 days before a major election?

President Obama spoke at the West Virginia J-J Dinner when he was still a Senator. Our friends who went predicted he would one day live in the White House. I don't think any of them thought it would be so soon, though. 

We're going to do a little party shopping on our way to Charleston. Yes, we're having an Election Night party and yes, I'm going to do it up right, with favors and Electoral College maps and food, oh my.

We're going to repeat a previous tradition of giving out M&Ms in pill bottles (my husband is a retired physician). In 2008 we created a new drug called Dematlast, which was supposed to relieve election-induced anxiety disorder. (Last election – actually convention – party posts are here and here.) This year we're dispensing Obamacillin.

We're also giving away little sponges which will be labeled as Fox News bricks – something to throw at the television that won't break the screen. I'm sure I would already have thrown more than a few of those if I watched Fox News. Which I don't. It seems like men watch it more than women, even Democratic men. They all say it's the mob-mentality strategy of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. I wonder, though. Fox News anchors are mostly blonde and pretty. It's election season: You decide! Heh.

If you have any ideas for funny, inexpensive, election-themed party favors, please speak up in the comments. They're going to be presented in brown paper lunch bags, sealed with an Obama sunrise sticker, so they can't be too big. Printables are great, but I'm running out of ideas. Everyone who leaves a suggestion will get their name tossed in the random-number generator hat, and I'll send one winner their very own goodie bag. It'll be like you were here with all of us on Election Night! Or not, since you won't get to eat the food.

Ready? GO!