Most of us have grown up exchanging little tokens of love and friendship on Valentine’s Day. Store bought kid’s Valentine cards are pretty goof-ball with bad puns and romantic innuendos that usually go right over Junior’s head.  And while I love the classic handmade construction paper hearts pasted on doilies (I honestly do!), this year I thought it would be fun to create some non-traditional valentines.

These little felt mice sit on slices of heart-shaped Swiss cheese, are incredibly simple to make and with some adult assistance can be sewn by even some of the younger kids.  Vermin and Valentine are not two words I would typically combine, but for the sake of alliteration I hope you’ll forgive me.  I have special plans for these nice mice that I’ll share with you next week.

As with many craft projects these instruction are simply guidelines and you’re encouraged to play with variations: color combinations, contrasting stitching, size and shape!

Gather the following supplies:

• Needle and thread for hand sewing
• Straight edge scissors and pinking shears
• Felt fabric in three colors, one for the sides of the mouse body (A), a second for the bottom of the body (B) and the ears and a third for the heart shaped slice of Swiss cheese (C). You can create several mice from a few standard 9″ x 12″ sheets of craft felt.
• Embroidery needle and two colors of embroidery floss, one for the whiskers (perhaps black or gray) and one for the nose (perhaps pink or red)
• Small amount of polyester or wool stuffing

1. Cut the following shapes out of felt with straight edge scissors.  For perfect circle templates, experiment tracing various size lids like oatmeal cans or spice jar tops.

• one circle 4 1/2″ in diameter from color A and then cut it in half (one half forms the sides of the mouse body)
• one circle 2″ in diameter from color B (this forms the bottom of the mouse body)

2. Cut the following shapes with pinking shears.

• two circles, each 1 1/2″ in diameter from color B (these form the mouse ears)

3. Take one of the large half circle pieces (save the other half for a second mouse) and roll it into a cone shape. The edges will overlap slightly and the cone’s point will be formed by the center point of the half circle’s straight edge. Pin the fabric so that it stays in a cone shape. Using a thread and needle whip stitch the seam shut.

4. Take the 2″ circle and begin to sew it to the open edge of the cone. This circle will form the bottom of the cone. Stop sewing half way around the circle, stuff the cone with polyester or wool stuffing and then continue sewing until the opening is closed. Your mouse’s cone shaped body is now complete.

5. Fold one of the 1 1/2″ circle in half. With a couple of stitches tack one corner of the folded circle to the cone, approximately 1″ down the side from the point. This makes one the mouse ears. Repeat this step, sewing the other ear onto the opposite side of the cone.

6. Sew four stands of black or gray embroidery floss through the point of the cone, tie off and cut the ends so that you have two sets of 1 1/2″ long whiskers. Finally sew several loops of pink or red embroidering floss over the point of the cone, concealing the whiskers knot and forming the mouse’s nose.

7. Fold a piece of color C felt in half and cut out a 4″ tall heart shape. Then cut out a series of small holes in the center and along the edges of the heart giving it the appearance of Swiss cheese.

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