Christmas Mice

Long ago and far away Grumpy and I were having a really hard time financially right after we got out of the Air Force. It was close to Thanksgiving and we knew we weren't going to have any money for Christmas. I bought this little stuffed Christmas mouse and thought I could take the idea and improve on it. Maybe I could sell some for Christmas. I paid about 15.00 for it, so figured there would be someone that would pay at least that for what I considered an improved version. I worked out a pattern and made a few up to see if there was a market for them. We were living at Nana and Papa's and she had neighbor who loved to buy stuff for her house. Nana took a couple of my creations over to her and she ended up buying about 10 of them. I was shocked and thrilled. I made up some more and another lady in the ward saw them and bought all I had. Back to the sewing machine and before you know it I had made a little money for Christmas.



In the pic above the mouse on the right is the original one I got the idea from. The Thanksgiving mouse is a larger version I did a year or two later. In the pic below are mice I made for Grandma Schnepf and Nana the next year. Anyway, back to my story. I only got started that first year. I so appreciated the ladies that purchased mice from me that year. It made such a difference to our small budget.


(Side note here: the little wooden calendar in the pic that counts down to Christmas was a birthday present from Tawna this year. She did a great job on it.)

We were living in the middle of a wonderful ward that year. To our great surprise a few days before Christmas someone came by the house and left an envelope for us. We didn't know who left it, but when we opened it there was a considerable amount of cash in it. There was a note telling us to have a good Christmas from our anonymous friends in the ward. We were speechless and so very touched. I still tear up thinking about it. We never found out who was so generous, and I learned a great lesson from that. I realized you never know who is willing to help you and I tried so hard to be a better friend and servant in the ward after that.

The next year Nana, Tracy and I decided to do a boutique in Nana's home. We called it "The Borgata” sort of after the shopping mall in Scottsdale. It is supposed to mean “a little village” in Italian and seemed appropo for a little village of vendors for a holiday boutique. It was a great success and I made lots of things for it. Lots and lots of mice. I think I have made about a thousand of those little ladies. Nana made many things and Tracy too. We did everything from painted folkart objects to perpetual calendars, all manner of sewn holiday things and even some baked goods. The Borgata years were fun, profitable and crazy. We even had sweet corn from what is now Schnepf farms that my Aunt Thora would bring in and sell.

We took special orders and it seemed I was always swamped right up until Christmas every year. I even got pneumonia a couple of years from staying up too late trying to get it all done. I don't miss that part. I must apologize to my children for the years of Zombie Mommy during the Christmas order times. We made lots of friends during those years and I still have items I bought or bartered for that I get out for the holidays. Good times.

My little Christmas mice were so good to me, I'm glad a few of them survived the years and I can remember what a help they were on one of our leanest Christmases ever. I am thankful Nana taught me to sew and encouraged me always.