I have four sisters. I am #2 of five. This fall, Sister #4 and her husband built a new house in the country, so for Thanksgiving the entire family gathered to celebrate the holiday at their new place. Being the mischievous crafters we are, Big Sis and I decided to break in the new house with an invasion. Of mice. Don’t panic. This collection won’t require pest control; just some of #4’s time. You see, before everyone left for home – these were hidden all over her new house.
This might very well be the first time she’s seen the entire line-up. At last count, one or two still hadn’t been found (4 weeks later). Heh heh. I think everyone in the family is laughing except for her. From what I’ve heard, Baby Sister got pretty creative with hiding places. Those last few may never be found.
I’m sharing this with you because it has been almost torturous to keep this to myself for this long. Our little project started this summer when Big Sis and I found a photo of felt mice on Pinterest which got us thinking. What if we made all types of mice and gave them themes or specific rooms to hide in?
Enter the Kitchen Mouse:
Her apron, bottle cap skillet and toothpick wire whisk inspired a legion of others – all hand crafted with love and attention to detail. For instance, Big Sis created the Country Mouse complete with overalls, a bucket & straw in his mouth. Perhaps he could sit on a windowsill overlooking their back meadow.
Sister #4 loves embroidery, so I made her a Crafting Mouse.
And since they are voracious readers and the new living room is filled with big beautiful book shelves, Big Sis upped the ante with a Book Worm Mouse.
I responded with The Artist Mouse, because while our brother-in-law is a fire captain by trade, he is a painter at heart and has a new art studio at the house to show for it. Every studio should have a mascot. Right?
For fun, Big Sis added a few colorful hippie mice.
And I pulled together a teal sweetie pie bearing flowers as a housewarming gift…
and this little Glamor Puss for their granddaughter, Zoey. This mouse is a diva.
Not to be outdone, Big Sis went for broke with the Racy Lingerie Mouse. She’s the floozy of the bunch. It was hidden in #4’s undies drawer.
She followed up with some really psychedelic party mice.
I thought we needed a mouse nesting in laundry lint to hide behind the dryer,
and this one for the pantry. I call him Mr. Beans.
And there were more. Twenty-two mice in total. All bearing sweet little tags that said “Congratulations on your new home. We’re so happy we could SQUEAK!” I don’t know which mouse was found first, but I do know it made cleaning up after a house full of company a lot more fun. And we had a blast making them.
Rumor has it they are now populating a Christmas tree. Enjoy your new friends, Sister #4. Congrats on your new home. We can’t wait to visit again.
Until then… leave a light on.
Inside NanaBread's Head 
Absolutely fabulous! What fun…
Thanks, Papa Bear! What a fabulous surprise to wake up to your comment. Thanks for dropping in! -j
That’s my papa bear that dropped in! I guess my dad reads your blog too…hilarious!
I love that your Dad visited my blog. He’s always welcome here. It’s like we’re all family now anyway. Right?
No wonder you’ve been needle pointing like a fiend! What a fun housewarming idea. Y’all are a crafty & devious bunch! Just curious–did you leave #4 a list so she knows when she’s found all of her new little friends?
We had so much fun making these mice. We didn’t set out to make so many, but every time I’d think of another idea for one, I couldn’t rest until it came to life. While we didn’t leave #4 a list of what was hidden, each tag was numbered with “Mouse #___ of 22” so she had a total number to look for. Last I heard, she’s found all but one or two. That group photo will show her which ones are still missing. I hope she’s had as much fun with it as we have!
PS – the same obsessive crafting went into Mads’ box of felt ornaments; just couldn’t stop myself!
Those ornaments are seriously amazing! You’ve got mad skillz, Girlfriend!
NanaBread- how I’ve missed your posts. I wake up to a slower pace this first day of 2013 and was able to read your blog.. Again. Oh the lively things I’ve been missing. Those mice! O those glorious mice and the fun and delight you squeeze into all things!
Thank you so much, Skye!
Very cute!
Thanks, Anita! I confess – I kept one for myself. He’s a fishing mouse with a vest, trout basket & fishing pole. I just loved him so much I couldn’t part with him. (Sorry, Sis!)
All I can say is OH. MY. GOSH!!!!! I’m blown away!!!! These are so cute and so sweet – love this!
Once we get our head wrapped around a project, there’s just no stopping us. Our little project was almost blown when Big Sis arrived for Thanksgiving. Sister #4 actually carried the box into the house when they were unpacking the car. She was “this close” to opening the box to see what was in it. Thank goodness Big Sis slapped her hand and stopped her!
Now THESE mice I could handle in my house (however, the cats might have other ideas).
Yeah… hadn’t thought about that, Sandy. Sister #4 has cats. Now I’m wondering if those mouse stayed on the Christmas tree or if they got picked off one at a time. :)
I’m so glad you took pictures before they shipped out! By my calculations, that last pip squeek should be discovered very soon…
At the very least she can now match them up to the photos to see what she’s looking for. :)
So very cute! Share the mushroom story now.
I can’t believe you brought that up. :) But you’re right – now that the mice have gone public, the mushrooms should come out too.
baawaahaha! I just found the last mouse thanks to you! It was Mr. Beans. Some how I over looked him a Zillion times- I knew there had to be one in the pantry!!! The second to last was on the mantle piece in with the cedar branches and bubble lights. Well done, because I never saw him. Ever. He’s lucky that I was taking the cedar down with care because it was dropping needles like crazy. Now that they are all accounted for, we have the big decision, put them all back or create a display for them all to hang out together in solidarity. Hummm…. It’s been fun, and very amusing finding these little gifts all over the house.
I wondered if the photos would trigger a find, especially given the fact that he was in a jar of beans. Mom said she hid him high in the pantry, so we thought he might go unnoticed for a while. I’m shocked the next to last was on the fireplace mantle since you walk past it every day. I think Mom gets credit for hiding that one, too. I thought for sure the one Baby Sis hid in the garage crawl space would be the last to be found. Bravo, Sis! PS – I think you should find an old soda crate at an antique shop and use it as a shadowbox for your mouse collection. http://www.houzz.com/old-soda-crates
Bravo! I wasn’t expecting you to find the one in the garage till you were putting up your holiday decor. We can look for a display when we get together in the spring.
Done! I’ll use any excuse to go antiquing!
It’s too bad she had to have help finding them all, but all good things come to an end. What to do next???????? Spring is coming…Ho Garden in the country.
I don’t know what you’re planning, but I’m thinking about crafting a life-sized donkey for the pasture out of polar fleece. {hee hee hee}
Is it possible to do a step-by-step on how to craft these little critters? I absolutely died when I saw the ornaments and these mice are hysterical. Maybe this is an activity saved for The Compound, but I would love to craft a few of my own. Great prank!!!
It was a fun but sweet way to break in her new house. It was inspired by last year’s Hoegarden, when the sisters & Mom hid ceramic mushrooms around my place. My friend Pat mentioned in her comment that I should tell the mushroom story. I’ll get on that, and I’ll work on a mouse tutorial to go along with it. I’ll also include a shot of the mouse that got away. The last one I made was so cute I couldn’t part with him. Your dad would love it.
Lovely! …and fun to read about.
Those are fabulous! I’d like to see a tutorial. Great housewarming surprise. My cats would love a tree full of mice. We have three “rats” in our house and my sister has given away several. One couple moves theirs around the house for the other to find. Ours stay put. One in the medicine cabinet to surprise snoopers. One hugs the lamp post behind the recliner. And one hangs from M’Lord’s sword hilt, holding its own little pirate sword and a little tankard.
Your rats sound like a fun bunch. Hanging from M’Lord’s sword hilt – how fabulously medieval! Jonah Bear (our grandson) would love that he has his own little pirate sword and tankard. To say that he’s into pirates would be an understatement. Thanks for planting a seed. I may have to make him a pirate critter soon, which means that Lilly Bug will need a princess. I’ll work on that tutorial. I promise.
Super cute! :) Happy New Year to you and your family!
Thank you, L&C. Same to you and yours!
I soooo get this!! Our Downtown has a whole story called Mice on Main where you have to hunt for 9 little mice sculptures that they have hidden all up and down Main Street. They have a book, stuffed mice, metal mice, etc.. all created after this little game. My adult daughter and I did the Mice on Main hunt and it became a little thing for us. We each have our own little “Meece” sculptures in our houses that we move all around and it’s always fun discovering them in different places. Love Meeces to pieces!!
Deb, that’s so cool! I wish we had a Mice On Main in the Houston area. It sounds like a lot of fun. I love that you & your daughter have it as ‘your thing’. My daughter and I have the same types of traditions. One is having matching PJ’s each Christmas. We have quite the collection now, and we’ve started the grandkids down the same path. I’m going to have to take my Fishing Grandpa Mouse out of the sewing room and move him around the house now – just for fun. See what you’ve inspired?
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