Woman Creates Masks with ‘Straw Holes’ to Sip Cocktails

A woman is using her business to design and make masks with a “straw hole” specifically meant for sipping cocktails.

Artist Ellen Macomber, who like many other small business owners trying to stay afloat, was inspired to make masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

But it was a suggestion from a friend that inspired her to make a small slot in the middle around the mouth of each of her masks that can fit a straw meant for sipping cocktails, Fast Company reported.

Macomber and her assistant made 40 masks out of cotton and other embellished fabrics in a week for $30 apiece — and her masks sold out in 30 minutes.

“We were thinking of doing a lip appliqué, where it would flap open and close, but you’d have to touch your face. I was like, ‘Well that won’t work because you have to touch your mask,’” Macomber told Fast Company. “That’s when I was like, ‘Dude, we just drill a little flap, an extra layer, and you angle the straw to get in. So the hole is never completely open.’”

Macomber claims the masks will help those who spend time in public spaces, but guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state otherwise.

The CDC advises Americans to wear masks that cover the mouth and nose completely.

Macomber is not the only one to disregard the advice of the CDC regarding facial coverings. One Kentucky woman was caught on camera wearing a mask with a hole cut in it because she claimed it made it “easier to breathe.”