Holiday concerts...

We kicked off this week with Emma's holiday band concert.

 Although she insisted that she didn't like her concert band uniform, Chris and I think Emma looks awfully darling in her black dress.

Josie's 1st grade holiday music concert took place Wednesday night and she had the honor of "welcoming" the audience to the event.

Here is her 15 second greeting.

As usual, this month has totally sped by. How is it possible that there is less than a week left before Christmas?  Santa's helper is definitely not ready.  I can't wait to wrap up the work week and get this Christmas break started!!

Miniature Christmas inspirations...

I am overdue in posting my lovely shadow boxes that came my way from Elizabeth's (Creative Breathing) Christmas swap. We were each asked to take a small Whitman's Sampler candy box and turn it into a miniature Christmas shadowbox/vignette.   I chose a night-before-Christmas theme for my boxes.

Bingo cards and mini strings of lights cover the sides of the box.

My boxes wrapped and ready to send to Elizabeth.

When my boxes arrived, I raced to my craft room to decorate my pink feather tree.

I love them so much, I honestly think they might stay up all year-round.

Please forgive me for not taking individual pictures of each one.  They are simply beautiful.  Each one a special work of art. For a complete listing of all the boxes and their artists, please see Elizabeth's post here.  Thank you for coordinating this swap, Elizabeth.
While we're talking about miniature inspirations, Josie and I decorated her dollhouse for Christmas.

This is same dollhouse that I gave Josie for Christmas last year.  I originally paid $10 for it and gave it a much needed makeover.  Over this past 12 months, it's been a happy dwelling for her many little animal and superhero friends.

The raccoon family has taken in a few more guests for the upcoming holidays.

Momma mouse is busy putting the final touches on a gingerbread house and Christmas cookies in the kitchen.

Papa mouse and little mouse are sneaking peeks at the stockings and gifts.

A sled rests next to the front door awaiting more snowy adventures!

And because I can't leave my own dollhouse alone, I recently picked up this vintage Christmas figurine for .50 cents at the thrift store.  

She looks rather festive standing next to a pile of Christmas packages.

One of my favorite bloggers "let's go fly a kite" has just posted wonderful pictures of her daughters' dollhouse and a miniature Santa house that she just decorated on her blog here.  Christmas inspiration from our little houses to your own!

Linking with:
It's A Very Cherry World Rednesday!
 

A day of remembrance...

Donations can be made to:  

http://newtownyouthandfamilyservices.org

No comments are necessary today.  It's a day of silence and remembrance in the blogging world. 

Paper snowflakes...

Like everyone, our hearts have been heavy since the horrible news broke on Friday.  

Paper Snowflake templates can be found on Kinderart .

Those children were Josie's age. 

My husband is an elementary school social worker.

It's such a horrible evil act that doesn't have any explanation.

We've been trying to shield the girls from the news as much as we can.

Providing a sense of normalcy by keeping our annual tradition of watching Elf, cutting paper snowflakes and indulging in sweets.

Sending prayers upward for the families, friends, and the townspeople of Connecticut. 

It's one of those times when words don't do justice to the hearts feelings.
 

Have you seen this Christmas crafting idea yet?

Snow globes are a popular Christmas craft and pinterest is just full of all sorts of wonderful variations right now.  This version (which uses plastic wine glasses) has been recently been featured on My So Called Crafty Life and Little Pink Studio.  

Supplies:
Plastic wine glasses
Card stock (I used paper coasters and pinking shears to cut to size)
Miniature plastic figurines
Chunky white glitter
Mod Podge
Hot glue
Pipe cleaners and miniature ornaments

I purchased my plastic wine glasses from the Dollar Tree.  Their wine glass bases allow you to easily detach them from the stem of the glass.

Thank you for all the Christmas figurines, Aunt Marion.  I knew they'd come in handy!

I started by hot gluing my plastic figurines onto the cardstock and then brushed mod podge around the figurines.

I then generously sprinkled chunky white glitter on top of the glue.

The rim of the plastic wine glass got a coating of hot glue and then it was secured on top of the card stock.

Pinking shears added a decorative edge.  A Sparkly pipe cleaner and a single vintage miniature ornament was hot glued on top of the glass to finish the cloche.

Super easy.  Super addictive.
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I hope you find time to "play" this weekend.