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Belly Dance Costuming DIY General

Event Survival Bag

This coming weekend on Saturday, I will be attending a local event that I had the pleasure of launching many years ago, The Fall Festival hosted by Babdama. This year, I’ll be there vending with my portable book-store.  I’m especially excited to bring along a few pre-release copies of my next book, “Color Theory: With Pencils and Mandalas.”

At my booth, I’ll be joined by my co-authors Alisha Westerfeld and Sara Shrapnell and with luck, we will have a great view of the stage to enjoy the show!  Several of the dancers who have appeared in my books will be taking the stage, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of my friends perform!

But while I love hanging out with friends, I have found that I will enjoy the event so much more if I take along a survival kit.

Event Survival Kit

I keep my event survival kit in what I think of as a medium-sized cosmetic bag. I make sure that it’s bright and easy to spot at the bottom of a dark tote-bag or when it’s tucked in a box under my table.  This bag is the right sized for me to wrangle all the items that I need while I’m sitting in my booth.

And since I love “What’s in my Bag” videos on YouTube, I thought I would take a moment to share what I include in my event survival kit.

 

Purse Companion

At first glance, this looks a lot like the contents of a purse, and in fact, many of these items might seem painfully obvious.  But this bag is separate from my purse for security purposes.  This is the bag that I’m pulling out and might leave on top my table under my book rack for easy access.

But while it’s nice to see a peek inside, I thought I would spread out what I keep in this bag.  Boy, was I shocked with the amount of stuff that I manage to get into the bag – and I still have room to spare.

Personalized Event Essentials

As you peek at my supplies, let me give you a little rundown of what I routinely carry.

  • Top row from the left: Ikea shopping tote for purchases, business postcards, tissues.
  • Middle row from the left: paper fan, pressed powder, black eyeliner, signature lip color, metal tin, healing gel, hand cream, anti-bacterial spray.
  • Bottom row from left: blotting paper, survival rations, mints, and candy.

But what’s in the box?

That tiny little box in the center of the photo above contains a complete hand-sewing kit!  I choose that box because of its cheeky cover.  It perfectly contains the essential items that I would need on hand to sew a broken hook and eye back into place!

What about everything else?

I know you might be thinking, what about aspirin and earplugs?  Because I go to so many music events, I actually carry earplugs in my purse.  However, at dance events, I like to keep my purse secure, so I will grab the things I need. and tuck my purse away.  Though I’ve never had my event survival bag “lifted,” I have a greater sense of security know that this kit will be easy to replace!

And that takes care of one tiny bit of event packing! 
Perhaps I’ll see you there!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Thursday, November 9, 2017.

 

By Davina

Davina ~ Dawn Devine is a belly dance costume designer, dance instructor and author of more than a dozen publications on Middle Eastern dance.