Moot political trash (talk)!

I'm glad that the midterm elections are over...NOT because I'm sick of the (sometimes nasty) campaigning. (OK...maybe a little glad for that part). Rather, I'm excited to put a recycling idea into practice and legally, I couldn't do that until tomorrow.

You know all of those weather-durable plastic campaign signs that are covering the landscape? After today, they're useless to the candidate and they're bound for the landfill. What a waste! I've decided that a few of them need to be rescued and repurposed, so tomorrow evening I'm going to venture out after the good citizens have put out their weekly trash on the curb.

I'm going to make some earring display cards!

Step one: Procure plastic signs. For the purposes of my project, I'm going looking for the hard white 4mm thickness signs. The plastic is usually printed on one side with a second panel on the back if the campaign wants a two sided sign. Sometimes, you can find corrugated signs with printing on both sides, which would also work for this purpose.

Step two: Design paper "card". Using my existing graphic and text files, I'm going to design a paper "face" for the earring card. I also plan to add two dots to show where to punch the holes for the posts/wires. Since a good number of the earrings that I make are dangly, I'm going with a 2 x 3 inch card.

Step three: Cut and adhere pieces. I'll next cut both the paper and plastic to the same size. I'll likely need to use a utility knife/utility scissors to cut the plastic, then I'll adhere the paper to the printed side of the plastic with glue. Once dry, I'll use my mini hole punch to punch two holes for the posts/wires and a larger third hole for the display peg.

Cheaper/more customizable/earth friendlier than buying earring cards via jewelry supply sources.

(Please note: in many juristictions it is illegal to remove posted political yard signs. I'm skirting this a bit under the excuse that if they're out for the trash on the curb, they are no longer "posted". If my local authorities disagree, I'm more than happy to put the signs back where I found them. As always, YMMV. If you're the least bit concerned about the odd chance of having a conversation with a patrol officer about trash picking, let your gut be your guide.)