Stirring Up.... Fresh Powder!

Carolyn commented the other day on the stirring mouse post - about the mouse singing while baking. I offered her the suggestion that he was not singing, he was really screaming because he was up late at night all alone trying to get cookies baked before Santa came and his ungrateful mice children were snug in their beds. My silly response to her got me thinking about reasons the mouse might be screaming, and this time he is hollering in glee as he heads down the slope!

Many of you requested a "how to" for the stirring mouse and here it is...

Here is a "parts list":

Head - ornament punch

Body - wide oval

Ears - butterfly punch - cut in half gives you 2 ears

Mouth - small oval punch  (adjustment to this shown below)

Nose - small heart in Heart to Heart punch (adjustment to this shown below)

Feet  - 3/4 inch circle punch - cut in half gives you 2 feet

Arms/hands - small oval punch - cut in half gives you 2 arms (folded to make the hand)

Scarf - modern label and 1/2 inch circle   -  cut two modern label punch and one circle - trim the modern label punches down 1/3 (you only need it as wide as 2 of the bumps on the end)  And then cut one of these punches in half

Mixing bowl was from 1 inch circle punch - but you are on your own because I just made adjustments as I went and have no idea now what I did.

Freehand stuff:

Tail - cut free hand with the assistance of a circle punch (shown below)

Tooth - freehand

Spoon - freehand

Mouth Adjustment

The mouth is the small oval - but I cut it down to fit by re-inserting it into the small oval punch again.  The red you see is just a scrap piece punched with word window so I could have something to "hold on to" to reinsert the small oval for it's second pass through the oval punch.

Nose Adjustment

Nose is the tiny heart from Heart to Heart punch - punched on the corner of a scrap and the paper is not pushed all the way

showing the regular heart vs the size you punch for the mouse nose.

Tail Directions

the tail is freehand with the assistance of a circle punch (any size you like)

Punch your circle on a scrap piece of cardstock

This will give you a curve to follow at the tip of his tail as you begin your freehand cutting.

Basic assembly

I sponged the edges of the Close to Cocoa mouse.  Chalked his ears with pink and his belly with something lighter.  Drew the stripes on the scarf with white gel pen.

For the skiing mouse: 

I added skis (word window) and ski poles (snowflake) for some down hill fun! (snowflake on background is from Holiday Blitz) (sentiment is from So Many Sayings - retired)

Your mouse could hold packages, candy canes, cheese or just about anything!  Let me know if you make one.