Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A craft from the past...

Meet the Mouse family:
Mama, Papa, Brother, Sister, and Baby.

They are 35 years old and come out of hiding every Christmas.
***
What's so special about this mouse family? Well, nothing really, except for the fact that I made them when I was about 13 years old. You see, being a teenager was different in the 70's -- we didn't have internet (OMG!) and my sister and I had to share the ONE phone that was attached to the WALL in the kitchen. So you might say that I had a lot of time on my hands.

I'm not sure if you can really see the detail in these pieces - they are comprised of a lot of little pieces of felt and all hand-stitched -- Papa and Mama are about 6" tall. I have no idea where I got the pattern (Mom might remember) and I would have no desire to ever make another set but I remember at the time I was obsessed with these little things! I made this set, plus another set for my BFF at the time, and just the Mama and Papa mouse that I sent to a penpal in Denmark.
.
Cool thing? This past year I reconnected with that BFF through Facebook (after 30 years!) and she still has the mouse family that I made for her. :o)
*****
Merry Christmas, Val G. I'm glad we are friends again/still.

10 comments:

Maria Ontiveros said...

What a great story!
I have a construction paper ornament that I made in kindergarten (probably 1966), and I love putting it on my tree every year. The best thing? All my siblings also still have their ornament (same design) from when they were in kindergarten! Gotta love that mom saved them all for us.
Rinda

Mom said...

Actually, Sweetie, you made one other set! It adorns my coffee table every year! Years ago I took the set to our local florist and had her arrange it in some greenery in a basket. She hot- glued them to a base and arranged artifical pine and Christmasy bows and it still looks adorable after all these years! Sorry I don't remember where you got the pattern--knowing you, it probably came together in your constantly working brain! xo

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Mom ~ I DID make you a set? Wow. No wonder I never got any chores done, eh? :o)

I kind of remember getting the pattern from a magazine or book that you had -- lots of little pieces to trace and cut out.

This shows how long it's been since I spent Christmas at your house! I've never seen the arrangement.

Love you!
xoxo
~ Deb

Mom said...

Carol Gresham did the arrangement for me! I'll try to get a pic of it and send it to you. It's lovely!

Loved Thanksgiving but will miss our early Christmas in AZ this year!! xo

sharyncarlson said...

Oh how adorable! And what a great story! I love holiday decorations that have meaning and a story behind them. And how great that you came across that pen pal on facebook :)

Gemma* said...

cute mouse family. and pretty impressive that a 13 yr old's sewing lasted all this time! don't think i still have any of my old makes . . . but that's just the sort of thing i would have done :)

melissa kaye said...

Such a sweet story, Deb! I'm so glad you shared this. Very nice handiwork! ~xoxo~

Dave said...

So cute! This reminds me of a silly decoration I put out every year! A little manger scene made from OJ cans covered in felt. My second grade masterpiece. I'm glad you posted this...now I want to be sure to get that silly manger scene in my Dec Daily this year!

Lynne in NI said...

Ooh how fabulous is your little mouse family! And what a great story that you reconnected with your friend again and she still has her family too!
I remember doing stuff like this too waaaayyyyyyyy back in the 70's ... those were the days when you were happy enough to transform and decorate a cardboard box into a home for your dolls, complete with beds and furniture made from big match boxes and curtains made from your Mum's scraps!

Ruth said...

What a lovely story! Thanks for sharing.

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