Get your Donald Trump Voodoo doll, handmade on Bainbridge Island
Jun 1, 2016, 4:56 PM | Updated: Oct 11, 2024, 10:00 am
Sally Noedel makes Donald Trump voodoo dolls for voters to try a spell or two on. (Rachel Belle, KIRO Radio)
(Rachel Belle, KIRO Radio)
For the past three years, Bainbridge Island’s Sally Noedel has been making and selling custom piñatas through her company Whata Piñata. But in December, a new project presented itself: Donald Trump voodoo dolls.
“Everybody started making Donald Trump piñatas and I think everybody’s heard about what a big success that is,” Noedel said. “But the thing is, a piñata takes a long time and I can only make a small number. But with a Donald Trump voodoo doll, I can make a lot! They’re small, they’re really easy to ship, it’s easy to send it to your girlfriend or your aunt in New York.”
And unlike a piñata, which is meant to be smashed to bits, a voodoo doll can last forever. Or at least four to eight years. Noedel has sold about 1,500 Trump voodoo dolls so far, and has shipped them all over the US, and as far away as Australia.
“It’s a little muslin doll that is screen printed,” she said. “It fits in your hand, it’s about seven inches tall by three-and-a-half inches wide. It fits in your pocket or your purse. Each package comes with a little sheet of spells, so if you’re not exactly sure how to use your Donald Trump voodoo doll, we’ll give you a few ideas of spells you might cast on it. Each doll comes with seven different colored pins.”
For example, you can stick a yellow pin into Trump’s bright yellow hair and cast a spell for baldness.
“Well, there’s The Racist Spell, and we figure you can use all the colored pins and that spell is cast to melt the racist words from Trumpy’s tongue,” Noedel said.
In order to achieve full voodoo powers, Noedel knows she needs to take it up a notch.
“I tried to think of some extra magical things to stuff it with,” she said. “It would be great to have just one Donald Trump hair to put in there. I don’t know how you get that, though.”
The doll is pretty much a gag gift. But what does Noedel really think of the Republican presidential nominee?
“I think the thought of a Donald Trump presidency is truly frightening,” she said.
She didn’t anticipate her business would last this long, but now she’s afraid she could be making Trump voodoo dolls for the next four to eight years. And she hopes the dolls can bring Trump haters a bit of solace.
“Just to see people laugh,” Noedel said. “That’s really been a great thing and then that starts a conversation. It’s fun and it’s meant to be fun. I’m glad to have something that people are getting a kick out of, because that’s the point.”
