weekend plans

Had a difficult time getting my mind working at work today... after a bit of flailing, I decided to at least focus on getting my weekend projects in order. :

Yesterday's post described my shopping list... today shows a plan of attack.

Thursday after work: shopping for the materials on the list while waiting to collect Wil. A couple of small changes: I am looking for a "yarn needle" (for the ruffled scarf project) and a 1" circle punch (because mine is a 1/2") for the FE gifts. Today I made a quick run to Paper Zone to get some smooth, bright white cardstock to print the "bubbles" on on the schmancy printer at work and, since I was next door, found two perfect 5x5 white frames at Aaron Brothers next door. I'm surprised how small 5x5" is... makes me wonder if I should pick something larger? But, no, that spoils the simplicity of it... Oh, and the frames were 40% off $9.99, so a snip at $6 each. They also have sturdy boxes, which will come in handy when they're shipped next year.

One major setback, however. I looked at the "jewels" for the magnets and discovered that they're not very nice -- or at least, most of them aren't. They're scuffed, have bubbles in the glass, have cracks or chips. I unearthed some "finished" magnets I made a few years ago, and of the 24 of them, only 2 were "giftworthy" -- the others looked... cheap. So now I am reconsidering the project. I've been fascinated over the last couple of days by the world of bottle cap magnets. Plain bottle caps are relatively cheap, I've got clear resin, and (now that I've reclaimed the magnets off the old glass ones), I don't need as many of those.

What to do?

Well, I'm trying to learn more about the differences between the smashed and the unsmashed caps. (Umm, yes, I know, some are smashed, some aren't...). But does one "work" better than others? My instinct is to buy some of the smashed caps and call it good. Maybe I'll do a little test with a bottle cap later on. I know I have a mallet somewhere...

ANYWAY, I have planned a very busy weekend of crafting (and running). starting with cutting pieces on Friday morning, and sewing Friday afternoon. If I get gung ho I'll even plant the bulbs. Finally, the refill pages and extension posts for my scrapbooks should come... if so, I'll put the run scrapbook back together, which will be absurdly satisfying. :)

In other news... our boss (after waiting two weeks...) sent out a note about her Secret Santa idea, so I went to draw "my" name out of the hat in Janine's office. Lucky for me, I drew someone I know. Now I am trying to decide whether to give her a recycled sweater scarf or some nice handmade stationery... I only have until Monday to do it, so I need to decide SOON!