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 