Today's report
Nov. 28th, 2023 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetI went out for dinner with my family! Parents plus my brother, SIL, and the kiddos. We went to Olive Garden, where I ate so much of the starters I needed a to-go box for some of my meal, and also my complimentary birthday dessert. I've so far managed not to eat these today, with designs on finishing them off after work tomorrow evening.
Yesterday, in addition to (successfully!) getting up early and walking the dog for my mom, I also made dinner and a corn-filled heat-and-cold pack with some cute dachshund fabric I found earlier in the day. See, Mom had rescued a baby squirrel some weeks (months?) ago, and sent the heating pack she had at the time with it to the rescue; when I offered her a replacement, she just kinda picked the first one I offered her out of my stash and that was that, so I wanted to make her one that was more personalized. Anyway, I think she likes it.
The phone case I ordered for her, on the other hand, arrived today, which meant that I couldn't give it to her yesterday 😂 Oh, well! At least I have Christmas figured out for her now. The only gifts I have left to figure out for now are elder nibling's birthday (five days before Christmas) and my brother's birthday (roughly three weeks after Christmas), but I still have time for both of those.
I was able to get measurements from my brother's phone case, and with those and the new case I ordered for Mom, I wanted to stop by Joann's and get some ribbon ready for the two of them. Unfortunately, our local Joann's is currently experiencing an extreme staffing shortage, and is open odd hours as a result. Which is slightly annoying, but thinking about how this probably means that they're not over-working the remaining employees means I'm not really bothered by it. (At least, I hope that's what it means...)
Between yesterday and today, I also cut a lot of fabric scraps to size for pocket-size marble mazes, and did the initial sewing. The next step will be trimming the edges down and turning them inside-out, so I can add the actual maze patterns. It would probably be a good idea to figure out how to ship these. I'm also pretty sure that they're machine-washable, and probably sanitize-able by boiling for five minutes, but that's definitely something to check first (they've got cheap glass marbles inside). I'd love to know that they can be made safe for immunocompromized people to use. Ditto to the corn sacks; I theorize that the corn sacks can be sanitized the same way I used to sanitize my cloth masks, by baking them for 30 min at 185°F, but I want to know for sure. Or maybe the microwaving is enough? Definitely need to investigate that...
Anyway! Stuff to check, stuff to do, stuff to have fun with. I've got plenty to keep me occupied in my free time.
Yesterday, in addition to (successfully!) getting up early and walking the dog for my mom, I also made dinner and a corn-filled heat-and-cold pack with some cute dachshund fabric I found earlier in the day. See, Mom had rescued a baby squirrel some weeks (months?) ago, and sent the heating pack she had at the time with it to the rescue; when I offered her a replacement, she just kinda picked the first one I offered her out of my stash and that was that, so I wanted to make her one that was more personalized. Anyway, I think she likes it.
The phone case I ordered for her, on the other hand, arrived today, which meant that I couldn't give it to her yesterday 😂 Oh, well! At least I have Christmas figured out for her now. The only gifts I have left to figure out for now are elder nibling's birthday (five days before Christmas) and my brother's birthday (roughly three weeks after Christmas), but I still have time for both of those.
I was able to get measurements from my brother's phone case, and with those and the new case I ordered for Mom, I wanted to stop by Joann's and get some ribbon ready for the two of them. Unfortunately, our local Joann's is currently experiencing an extreme staffing shortage, and is open odd hours as a result. Which is slightly annoying, but thinking about how this probably means that they're not over-working the remaining employees means I'm not really bothered by it. (At least, I hope that's what it means...)
Between yesterday and today, I also cut a lot of fabric scraps to size for pocket-size marble mazes, and did the initial sewing. The next step will be trimming the edges down and turning them inside-out, so I can add the actual maze patterns. It would probably be a good idea to figure out how to ship these. I'm also pretty sure that they're machine-washable, and probably sanitize-able by boiling for five minutes, but that's definitely something to check first (they've got cheap glass marbles inside). I'd love to know that they can be made safe for immunocompromized people to use. Ditto to the corn sacks; I theorize that the corn sacks can be sanitized the same way I used to sanitize my cloth masks, by baking them for 30 min at 185°F, but I want to know for sure. Or maybe the microwaving is enough? Definitely need to investigate that...
Anyway! Stuff to check, stuff to do, stuff to have fun with. I've got plenty to keep me occupied in my free time.
I am fascinated and
Date: 2023-11-30 11:11 pm (UTC)mystified by pocket-size marble mazes. Are these toys on their own or heat pack adjacent?
I'm imagining something that both keeps my hands warm and gives them something to fiddle with.
I hope you can enlighten me!
I, in turn, am intrigued!
Date: 2023-12-01 12:52 am (UTC)That said, you have sparked some interest in me! I am now trying to figure out how a heat-pack toy might work. Maybe divide a cloth pocket roughly in half, but leave a gap between the two halves, fill the one half all the way up with corn, and the other half only part-way with corn, so the "game" can be to push excess corn from one half to the other? I may have to see if I can make this work...
Re: I, in turn, am intrigued!
Date: 2023-12-01 04:12 pm (UTC)Nifty!
How about a two-level design: the corn pack as big as the maze on the bottom, then a solid layer of fabric, and then the maze on the roof? But would the marbles survive microwaving?
Re: I, in turn, am intrigued!
Date: 2023-12-01 06:58 pm (UTC)That said, it's less likely that they'd survive going between the microwave and freezer on the regular, and multiple times. Or being stored in a non-heated area and then going through the microwave. If I could find plastic marbles, maybe, but so far no dice. (Though a D20 might work instead of a marble, come to think of it...) I also feel like the layer of corn might make it too difficult to maneuver the marble, but I do have one or two cold packs of a similar size, so I could baste-stitch a marble maze to the top of one and find out for sure.