“This has never been done in 45 years, but he really impressed me,” said Larry Gutkin, Lava Lite’s chief executive officer. “Originally we both have Chicago roots and he is really a Chicago politician. I thought it was attribute to him and a fun product to offer, without making fun of him. When it was all together the product came out beautifully, we are very happy with the outcome.”

The custom designed resin base and cap of the lamp feature three dimensional stars, stripes and bunting in a patriotic red, white and blue color scheme. A color photograph of a smiling President Obama is set against a blue and red background and framed in a star rimmed medallion in the center of the Lava Lamp base.

Topping the base is the distinctive Lava Lamp globe, containing a proprietary formula of blue liquid and white wax. Finally, the commemorative package, a colorful red and blue cylinder, complements the Special Edition Obama Lava Lamp perfectly.

Retailing at $39.99, the limited-edition lamp is currently available online and select retailers nationwide will soon sell it.

“This is really a collectors edition so I think a lot of people are picking this one up thinking that in years it will be a very valuable collectors item and I think they may be right,” added Gutkin.

But the lamp may not just serve as a collector’s item. Gutkin tells Blast that as a businessman who travels continuously, the past eight years have been a little hard. Being told that his country’s leader was making foolish mistakes became a common experience. Now, he said it feels good to be proud of our commander-in-chief. He hopes the country understands a process is needed to better the nation and effective change will come slowly rather than from one day to the next.

In the meantime, Gutkin is working on getting a lamp to Sasha and Malia, the first daughters, after already getting one to Vice President Biden.

“It’s a little tough to send to send something to the President. I’ve tried, but we’ll try to get one to his daughters,” said Gutkin. “We’ll get one to them and hopefully the President will see one and think its pretty cool. I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t!”

Thankfully you don’t have to wait to get your own Obama Lava Lamp. Enter to win a limited edition lamp by February 28 now!

Zeisel, a 25 year-old Northeastern University graduate, decided to start representing his grandmother’s designs and selling them exclusively through her website. After receiving advice from his father in 2006 to sell a set of goblets Eva designed for her 100^th birthday, Zeisel put the business skills he was learning in college to good use. He sold the goblets online successfully and began to imagine how he could manufacture other designs.

“I wanted to find a niche for a woman who already had a name brand, but in smaller table top objects. I went to her studio and saw she had furniture designs that had never been made and I didn’t know she had them, after browsing through I knew the pieces would appeal to her customers and bring her into a new market,” Zeisel said.

Always the leader, starting a t-shirt business at Northeastern and being involved with many student groups, Zeisel put together a business plan to start selling pieces through a new site, EvaZeiseloriginals.com. He consulted college professors to learn what was the best way to sell his grandmother’s designs without harming her very respected image.  His family’s name was his biggest seller.

“I found this would be a great opportunity to have a chance to follow passion and be a leader. Its challenging because people say, ‘oh you’re her grandson’ but I enjoy the challenge,” the young entrepreneur said. “My first goal was to give Eva peace of mind and confidence that I was doing something worthwhile and with that I could pursue the marketing of the brand by using the family name to add to her legacy and not use her legacy. I didn’t want that to be the reason for why people bought, because we share a last name, but because it is her original pieces available to everyone.”

The Transport Bed includes an audio/visual system based on detailed research, Frias said in a statement Tuesday. The audio system features four-inch Anthony Gallo Nucleus Micro speakers and a 240-watt MPS subwoofer that can be integrated into any stereo, home theater or iPod. The inside is lit by an LED optics system giving you a custom lighting experience. It is all enclosed around a temperature-controlled waterbed.

“As a graduate student working on my master’s thesis in architecture, I focused my research on light, sound and space,” said Frias. “I became fascinated with the trance-like effect one gets from meditating upon the crashing ocean waves or when staring at the clear blue sky. I then became determined to create an environment that would recall that heightened state of awareness.”

Each Transport is handmade and custom-ordered. It is available in two sizes: a six-foot standard version or a large eight-foot diameter version. It will be available in white and glossy black.

At around $14,000, the Transport can be tried and ordered at Twentieth, a modern furnishings store in Beverly Hills.