How to slaughter a snow globe

Quite a few years ago, I think it was either the first or second Christmas we were married, Kevin bought me a snow globe I'd been admiring at Costco. It's a nativity one with a music box on the bottom that plays The First Noel, and it's way cool and always one of my favorite things to unpack (and not because it's made a gazillion moves through three countries now).

But ...

Gradually over the years the water inside has yellowed to the point the past couple of years that Jesus' family looked like they were living in an Industrial Revolution-era factory town. See what I mean?

Unlike some snow globes, this one didn't have a plug for draining the water, so I decided to take drastic measures. I figured I'd poke a hole in the back of the glass, really low, and that if the glass stayed intact that I'd just drain the water.

Poking the hole wasn't hard; I put a piece of masking tape on the spot I picked, got a tiny Phillips-head screwdriver and whacked it with a hammer. The hole served its purpose -- and the nasty water inside was quite smelly -- but there were some more extensive cracks that would have meant dealing with shards of glass when I unpack the decorations next Christmas, and that hardly seemed worth it. So I went ahead and broke all of the glass off and now am left with this:

At least the decoration boxes will be a little lighter and less fragile, and the holy family will have a clearer view of their world.