When my children were young, centuries ago, we were not wealthy...we were in fact poorly...ha ha ha. I was handy with crafts so I made a lot of the things they played with. It wasn't Christmas without homemade gifts. One was called a "Mouse House". It was so popular because it could be used until they were tired of it, thrown away and a new one created.

The only things needed to make a "Mouse House" are:

1. several small boxes (like those that hold tea, animal crackers and smaller boxes from spices ) of different sizes.


2. scotch tape


3. craft glue


4. scissors sharp enough to cut the boxes (a knife can be used for the doors connecting the rooms)


5. greeting cards, wrapping paper, contact paper and/or small swatches of fabric


6. fake fur (not too stiff)


7. two half shells of a cracked walnut and a small piece of string.

You can be imaginative in the placing of rooms. The house can be as small as one room or as large as two stories with many rooms.

Start by putting the rooms together (side of one box facing a side from another box) with glue and tape. The tape will keep the sides together while the glue dries.

After the glue has dried remove the tape. Cut the doors between the rooms. I recommend not leaving a door inside as it can take up too much room in the finished house. Cut the doors and windows to the outside of the house.

Now, choose your wallpaper and flooring. Cut each piece of fabric/wall paper to fit the sides of each room. The more colorful the better.

Cut out the spaces covering the doors and windows(you can laugh at me for telling you this but some people really wouldn't think of it..ha ha).

Since this is a "Mouse House" you must now "Think Mouse". Everything small. After the floors and walls are finished it's time to put the "fur coat" on.

Place each outside wall of the house onto the back of the fake fur. With a pencil or pen trace around the edges of each outside wall. Cut the fur to fit the house. Glue the pieces in place like siding. Let dry.

You now have a house to decorate.

Some ideas for furniture:

• For the furniture smaller boxes can be used for the beds, tables, fridges, cupboards, sofas and even bathtubs.


• Cotton balls can become mattresses.


• A stamp can become a picture frame with a tiny picture cut from a magazine glued on top.


• Rugs can be made out of the left over fabric.


• Chairs and even tables can be made out of match-sticks (take off the dangerous end) and the left over cut-outs from the doors and windows.


• Aluminum foil can be used to make plates and cups.


• Books can be made from tiny pictures in magazines.


• Anything you can think of to furnish the house (and that is safe for a child to play with).

To make the mouse:

(if you want a mouse and not a tiny doll from a kid's toy section of a discount store) put the halves of walnut onto a piece of paper and outline them with pencil or pen. Cut the pieces out...they will cover the bottom of the shells. Take a piece of string with glue on the end for the tail. The pointed end of the walnut will be the mouse's nose. Place the string at the other end and put the paper cutout over it. Glue the string and the paper to the bottom of the shell. Let dry.

With fabric, felt or paper you can make two tiny ears to glue on top of the shell for the mouse's ears. Use a felt tip pen or paint you can put two eyes and a little pink nose on your mouse.

There, you have your Mouse House and the mice to live in it!

Hours of fun. You never have to discipline a child for not taking care of this toy...it's cheap to replace. So, you are a hero. (I have even made GI Joe barracks and space stations out of bigger boxes.) One "Mouse Castle" sits in an obscure library somewhere in a local doll house collection.

Each Christmas my kids would run to see what their new mouse house would be before they opened their other gifts. I wasn't as popular when they grew older and stopped making them. Now, I am waiting for my grandchildren to get old enough. If you try this you have my wishes for lots of fun and laughs whether made by yourself or with the children in your life.