To kick start our penguin plushie making and selling events, we held a few events on our college campus! Here are the results of that...
Pre-Event April 8:
Only 5 penguins made by this time, but this was an opportunity to work out logistics with some of my friends and housemates. For example, we figured out that a roller pet hair remover and a dustpan would be helpful for cleaning up bits of penguin fluff.
The five starting penguins
set up with the materials to
make more!
One of my housemates with their completed penguin! A few more people participated, but they didn't finish their penguins at this time, so I worked with them on that later.
First Event April 16:
By this time, there were plenty of penguins, and a big space to work on more!
See? Big space.
Lots of people were hard at work making more penguins. What was fun on my part was seeing how people would go about it. I didn't bring any instructions, so people either tended to piece it together on their own, allow me to guide them through it, or work in between. There were people who were experienced with sewing, somewhat comfortable with sewing, or preferred to cut fabric instead.
Although most didn't finish their penguins by the end of the time, there was opportunity the next week to help them through the rest. Here's someone with their finished penguin!
Of course penguin plushie selling still happened among this. People were quite satisfied with their penguins, I think. For example, here's a snippet of the penguin Yerbert putting on a show.
Second Event April 23:
A few more people came this time as news of the event spread.
As a result, a few more people finished their penguins this time!
And of course, more penguin plushies were bought! And more penguin plushie antics ensued. It seems very popular to pose with your chosen plushie.
It also seems popular to throw your chosen plushie. You need to test its durability somehow, right?
Not to worry— no penguins or people were harmed in the filming of these videos. Although a plushie did temporarily get stranded on a high wall railing for a bit...
Third Event, Reed Arts Fest, May 5:
This time, no one made penguin pluhsies, as this was a tabling event. But plenty of penguin plushies were sold! In between selling plushies and telling people about the cause, I made three penguin plushies to add. There were only four left by the end!
Although a few people thought the penguins were pricey in comparison to the other handcrafted things sold there (the audience was primarily college students, after all), as soon as people heard that all the profits were being donated, they changed their minds and bought one. A few even bought two!
To Go Where No Penguin Plushie Has Gone Before, May 2:
To commemorate the first penguin plushie to be shipped! A big thank you to the stranger who let me reuse their box.
Final Number Countup:
29 penguin plushies made
Estimated 72.5 hours of penguin plushie making (2 hours to sew per plushie, 30 minutes to cut fabric for each plushie)
Estimated 20 hours of penguin plushie tabling (April 8: 6 hours, April 16: 5 hours, April 23: 5 hours, May 5: 4 hours)
22 penguin plushies sold
$190 raised! All of which went to Transition Projects, a Portland-based organization that helps people experiencing homelessness transition to housing
Now that I understand event preparation, tabling, and shipping better, this is just the beginning.
Who knows how many more penguin plushies shall be given good homes?
