Waltzingmouse November Blog Waltz

Today is the Friends of Waltzingmouse November Blog Waltz.  You should make sure to check out all of the holiday cards and projects guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit.  Here's a link.
I have been wanting to make a shadowbox ever since I saw one made by Mona Pendleton back in September and again in November.  Here is a link to the projects that inspired me, here and here.

 I used a 7 Gypsies shadowbox as my base and a variety of papers I have had for some time.  The most fun and also time-consuming part of this was selecting the perfect pictures of my kids and husband from Christmas' past.  I chose pictures that weren't necessarily the best, but they all mean a little something special to me. 

 First up, Matt who is now 29.

I have a ton of pictures of my kids all holding up some kind of Christmas gift they just had to have.  The box next to Matt has a cute candy jar image from Waltzingmouse Stamps Candy Jar Christmas Fillers set.  It is very sparkly and glittery with a three layer popped up bow.

Next up is Andy, now 27.

I love the toothless grin on Andy's face as he posed with his new bike helmet, pretending that he will love to wear a helmet even though that was back in the day when the only kids who wore helmets were the ones with crazy moms like me.  In the box next to him I used an embossed ornament from WM stamps 2010 Vintage Ornaments and a couple of pinecones, one I collected from outside our little cabin in Montana.

Third, my baby, Carly who is now 20.

Carly hates this picture, but I LOVE it.  She is wearing snuggly pink pajamas, her hair is all over the place and she has that fake, "Say Cheese" smile on her face while she sits on her new Christmas bike.  She told me she can't believe I used to let her out of her bedroom looking like this.  Next to Carly is a Tim Holtz medallion and the scallop on the top of it is from WM stamps Candy Jar Christmas.

Last up, a picture of the entire group.  

I have about 15 of these pictures, starting back when my husband and I first married and the picture was of him chopping down the Christmas tree.  Over the years, the kids were added to the picture, but someone always had to hold up that saw that was used so often.  Next to that picture are some cute mittens stamped with WM Nordic Winter and embossed in white with flocked cuffs.  My favorite set from Waltzingmouse...so far!

Here are a few pictures of the other boxes:

I used WM Around Christmastime for the vintage Santa, Seasonal Remedies for the "Joy" tag and A Cottage Christmas for the cute little snowman popped up on the snowy hills with a PTI diecut deer feeding at it's feet.



This shadowbox is already hanging in our family room, I couldn't wait until closer to Christmas, but I have to say it was so much fun to put together, trying to come up with the perfect embellishment for each box to go along with the memory-filled photos.  Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me.  Now, here's that link to the Blog Waltz again.  I know you won't be disappointed.