Sledding Dog Handprint Craft

Have you seen the video of Secret, the dog who takes herself sledding? It's adorable. It was filmed in 2018 but is making the rounds again as we approach winter. If you haven't seen the video, go watch it now. 

Today's craft is inspired by Secret, although I chose to change her from her black-and-white self to brown. Her proportions are a little different as well, because I used my handprint to make her. Affiliate links below. 

Sledding Dog Handprint Craft

Materials: 

• construction paper or cardstock
• microtip scissors
• craft glue
• googly eye
• black pen

Steps: 

Trace your handprint onto brown cardstock. Carefully cut it out, then use the scraps to cut ears, a fluffy tail, and tree trunks. Glue the googly eye, the ears, and the tail to the handprint, then color the tip of the nose black. 

Cut two slopes from white cardstock, then cut the snow for the tops of the trees from the scraps. Cut out a blue sled and some green trees. Assemble the trees by gluing the trunks and the snowy tops to the trees. 

Glue the slopes to the background paper. Glue the dog in place, then glue the sled over the fingertips so it looks like the dog is standing in the sled. Finally, glue the trees in place.

Tangerine Bread Rolls

I've been making a lot of bread during the pandemic, occasionally venturing beyond my tried and true recipes to experiment. These sweet rolls have a hint of tangerine. Paired with a sweet and tart whipped cream spread (featuring this must-have secret ingredient), they're heavenly. 

 

Tangerine Bread Rolls

                                                                1/4 c. butter                            3 c. flour

                                                                1/4 c. milk                                1 1/2 tsp yeast

                                                                1/4 c. tangerine juice             1/2 tsp salt

                                                                2 T tangerine zest                   2 T sugar, plus extra for rolling

                                                                2 eggs

Heat the butter and milk until they reach 110°F. Stir in the tangerine juice, beating until well-combined. Add the zest and the eggs. Stir in 1 cup of the flour, the yeast, the salt, and 2 T sugar. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. 

Stir in the remaining flour in 1/2 cup increments until the dough is soft. Turn it out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, approximately 10 minutes.  Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled. 

Punch the dough down, then divide it into 12 pieces. Shape each into a ball, roll them in the extra sugar, and place them in a greased 9" round cake pan. 

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise again for an hour. Remove the plastic wrap, then bake the rolls at 350°F for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown. 

These rolls are fantastic as is, warm from the oven. But for an especially decadent treat, whip up this tangy sweet spread. 

1 c. whipped cream

1 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. tangerine juice

citric acid* to taste, just a sprinkle (affiliate link)

1 tsp. tangerine zest

Fill a small ramekin with whipped cream, then set it aside. In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar and tangerine juice. It should be the consistency of a syrup; adjust as needed with juice or powdered sugar. Sprinkle in some citric acid. Spoon the syrup over the top of the whipped cream, then sprinkle with zest. To eat, spread with a knife or dip pieces directly in.  

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*Citric acid is a magic ingredient. A tiny sprinkle of it will provide a subtle boost of flavor to all sorts of drinks, desserts, and other dishes; add more and you get a delicious tart bite. Roll homemade candies in it for an extra-sour experience that rivals the most tart commercial candies. It basically keeps forever, although once you have it, you'll start finding more and more uses for it!

Indiana 2018

We did so many fun things during our 2018 visit to Indiana that it was REALLY hard to narrow down the photos. I tried to represent the wide variety of things we did - the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NCAA Hall of Champions, the Rhythm Discovery Center, the Capitol, the Urban Adventure Quest, Schimpff's Confectionary, the Big Four Pedestrian Bridge, and trying the official state dessert, but there's so much more I had to leave out. 

Indiana (affiliate link)

Indianapolis was such a delightful surprise. Before we traveled, I hadn't expected to enjoy it nearly as much as we did. While it didn't quite make the cut, Indianapolis was a contender for my list of the Most Unexpectedly Awesome Cities for Family Vacations. If you've never been, add it to your travel wishlist.

Christmas Card Organizer

In a normal year, we take our annual family portraits in early November so that I can design our Christmas cards and get them printed in time to pass them out on Thanksgiving. Since we wouldn't be seeing anyone for Thanksgiving, there wasn't an incentive to take our photos early enough to have our cards printed by then. We ended up taking our portrait on Black Friday, then I designed and ordered the cards on Saturday (using PicMonkey, of course). 

While waiting for the cards to be ready, I decorated a box that will serve as a Christmas card organizer. I covered the outside with adorable snowman paper from Echo Park and red polka dot washi tape (affiliate links)

The box holds my address list, a pen, Christmas stickers, and holiday stamps (bunny!). Having everything together in the organizer will make it easy for me to work on a few cards at a time at my desk, on the couch, or in front of the TV. And once my cards are all sent, the box will hold the Christmas letters we receive (the cards will go onto this display). 

Martian Chess

Remember last week when I said that Nomids was our new favorite board game? We still love it, but now it has some major competition with Martian Chess for the title! Both were provided to me as media samples. Affiliate links here and throughout the post. 

Both Nomids and Martian Chess are from one of my all-time favorite game companies, Looney Labs. Both use pyramids as game pieces, are easy to learn, and are super travel-friendly. While Nomids is a strategy game with a luck component, Martian Chess is pure strategy. So when Trevor beat me the first 8 times we played, I had nothing to blame but myself. I did beat him on Game #9 though! 

Martian Chess is simple in concept: There are three types of pieces, each with a certain way they can move (just like in regular chess). The largest pyramids, called Queens, can move any distance in any one direction. The medium pieces, called Drones, can move one or two spaces horizontally or vertically. The smallest, Pawns, can move one space diagonally. Unlike in regular chess, only the pieces on your side of the center dividing line (canal) are yours. Here, Steve is about to move a Drone across the canal. He's not in position to capture anything. Once he moves the Drone, it will become Trevor's. 

Since all the pieces are the same color and ownership of any one piece is constantly changing, the goal is not to be the last with your piece(s) on the board. Instead, the winner is whoever earns the most points by capturing Queens (3 pts), Drones (2 pts), and Pawns (1 pt). The game goes pretty quickly and really keeps you thinking!

Trevor has already decided he'll be bringing Martian Chess along on Scout trips once we've beaten this pandemic. The boys in his troop love regular chess and are huge fans of other Looney Labs games (particularly Fluxx) so it's a no-brainer that they'll love this too.