Ugly (Festive!) Christmas Sweater Garland

'Tis the season for ugly Christmas sweaters! Or, as I prefer to call them, festive Christmas sweaters. Back in my teaching days, I wore my festive Christmas sweaters to work throughout December. I'm a fan. 

I'm also a fan of this garland. I had a great time making it and I love the way it looks hanging up. I'm going to be adding to it to make it longer, but I wanted to share it asap so that you could make your own. Affiliate links below. 

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Ugly Christmas Sweater Garland

Materials:

• 8.5 x 11" paper
• scissors
• markers
• Stickles

Steps: 

Cut the paper in half lengthwise to make two 4.25" x 11" rectangles. You need one rectangle per chain of four sweaters.

Fold the paper in half widthwise, then again, and a third time. Open the paper and use the fold lines as guides to fold the paper accordion-style. 

Draw half of a sweater shape on one end of the accordion, as shown below. Make sure the arm is facing toward the unfolded edge.

Holding the folded paper together, cut out the sweaters. Microtip scissors work best for this. You'll end up with four connected sweaters. 

Now use markers to decorate the sweaters! Anything goes. I used Crayola's scented markers specifically so that the wreath and Christmas tree would smell like pine. It's the little things. 

Finally, add Stickles. You can't have too much glitter on a festive Christmas sweater!

Voila! Much festive. So Christmas. 

I can't wait to make more. As I complete more strands, I'll add them to this strand by putting a little piece of paper behind the arms. Give it a try and when you do, send me a photo!

Visiting State Capitols and The Capitol Collection

During our October trip, we toured the Capitol buildings in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This brings the total number of Capitols we've visited as a family up to 15, all in the last four years! Before we started visiting them, I expected that the Capitol buildings would be more similar than different. Large, rectangular, white, dome on top, grand staircase... that sort of thing. Some do look like that, but plenty don't. We really enjoy seeing the similarities and differences between the different Capitols. It's fascinating how much they vary in size, style, function, public access... and level of security!

Here we are at all of the Capitol buildings we've visited in the past 4 years, starting with our own. 

Sacramento, California

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Denver, Colorado

Salt Lake City, Utah

Juneau, Alaska (closed for renovations)

Boise, Idaho

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Phoenix, Arizona

Des Moines, Iowa

Lincoln, Nebraska

Carson City, Nevada

Annapolis, Maryland

Dover, Delaware

Trenton, New Jersey

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

It wasn't until we'd been to a handful of Capitols that we thought about a way to keep track of which ones we'd visited. I didn't want to start a separate album - some sort of small book would be better. In Iowa, we discovered The Capitol Collection at the gift shop. Perfect!! 

This small, spiral-bound book is lightweight and easy to carry on our travels. There is a 2-page spread for each state, with information about that state and a place to stamp the book during each visit. We bought the book after we'd been to quite a few Capitols, some of which we were unlikely to ever revisit. Would those pages remain blank? No! What I love most about The Capitol Collection is that once you buy it, you can request a sticker version of each of the stamps that you are missing. Just supply the date you visited and the stickers come in the mail. Here you can see the California page. I've attached the California sticker; the Wyoming, Iowa, and Utah stickers are ready to stick in place. 

You can buy The Capitol Collection at some Capitol's gift shops, or at thecapitolcollection.com. No affiliate link, unfortunately, because I've recommended it to a lot of people and now I'm sharing it with you all! It would make a neat gift for kids, retirees, or anyone who enjoys travel. 

Visit my US Travel page to read about our family's travels to the Capitols and other places in the United States. You'll also find gift recommendations for travelers, crafts inspired by each state, and ideas for documenting your own travels.

Paper Plate Artist's Palette .... For Dinner!

I believe whole-heartedly in making everyday activities fun. And when crazy ideas pop into my head, like eating dinner off of an artist's palette, I go with it. 

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Paper Plate Artist's Palette

Materials: 

• paper plate
• scissors
• food

Steps:

Prepare the plate by cutting an arc into one side. Poke the scissors into the plate to cut a thumb-sized hole near the arc. 

The example above is for a lefty (like me) to hold in her right hand. My right-handed family needed palettes cut the opposite direction, so they could hold them with their left hands and eat with their right. 

Now load up the food! Choose items that don't need cutting. Here, Trevor has chicken (cut into bite-sized pieces), red peppers, zucchini, black beans, Mexican rice, sour cream, and corn tomalito.  

Just another dinner in the deRosier house!

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

We've finally had some cold weather here (cold being relative, of course) and cold weather means soup. Actually, I'm a fan of soup no matter what the weather. I don't think I've ever mentioned that Steve and I wanted a soup bar for lunch at our May 2004 wedding reception, but we couldn't find a caterer who could/would do it. I haven't asked around in almost 14 years, but as far as I know there's still a hole in the market for someone to fill.  

I love making soup because it is easy and forgiving. I can dig around in the refrigerator and/or freezer and come up with something yummy that works well in soup. In this case, it's Broccoli-Cheddar Soup. We keep broccoli on hand because it's one of Trouble's favorite foods and we keep cheese on hand because it's one of my favorite foods. 

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Broccoli Cheddar Soup

                                       1/4 c. butter                                        2 c. milk
                                       1/2 onion, chopped                           3 1/2 c. shredded cheddar
                                       1/4 c. flour                                           1 c. finely chopped cooked broccoli
                                       4 c. broth (chicken or veggie)

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion for five minutes, or until tender. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute. It should be completely combined with the onion. Add the broth, stirring constantly. Let that cook for a minute, then add the milk. Bring the mixture just to a boil, continuing to stir constantly. Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender until the soup is smooth. Whisk in the cheddar until it is completely melted. If it does not melt completely, heat over very low heat for a minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the broccoli.

Pfeffernüsse: German 'Pepper Nuts' Cookies

Pfeffernüsse are traditional German cookies. The name translates to “pepper nuts,” as they traditionally contain both pepper and nuts. My grandmother, Elfrieda Reifenberger, made them every year at Christmas without fail. She made them without nuts, so that is the version I make.

Pfeffernüsse

                                        4. c. flour                                              ¼ tsp. black pepper
                                        ½ c. sugar                                              ¾ c. molasses
                                        1¼ tsp. baking soda                                ½ c. butter
                                        1½ tsp. ground cinnamon                        2 eggs, beaten
                                        ½ tsp. ground cloves                               powdered sugar
                                        ½ tsp. ground nutmeg


Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and spices. In a saucepan combine molasses and butter; heat and stir until butter melts. Let cool to room temperature. Stir in eggs. Add molasses mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. Wrap and chill several hours or overnight. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on a Silpat-lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for 12-14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar. Makes about 5 dozen.