Belated Valentine

Courtney wasn't here on Tuesday, because it was Valentine's Day and her daycare party was that day, which of course she didn't want to miss. We did a switcheroo and she came here yesterday instead. It worked out well for me, because being the last-minute person that I am, I didn't have her Valentine gift ready yet! Heheh.

Since I knew she'd get enough sweet treats from the parties at daycare and school, I wanted to give her something that wasn't candy. So I gave her breath mints instead!

Well, not exactly. I gave her a breath mints TIN.... one with a little surprise inside!

A bed! And it was occupied!

Yep, the bed contained a mouse (now named Squeaky). Squeaky has his very own teddy bear [now named Rainy (Raney?)].

(Those of you who have followed my blog for awhile may notice that the pillow even matches the ones I made for Courtney's daycare and for her dolls! She said: "Now I have 3 pillows... a large, a medium, and a small!")

I have to confess that the teddy bear wasn't finished by the time Courtney arrived on Thursday evening for her sleepover. That didn't matter... she was totally THRILLED with the bed and the mouse! I promised her there was one more part to the Valentine gift and that I would finish it after she went to bed so it would be ready for her in the morning. I wanted her to leave the mouse and tin out so I could take pics when I got it all done, but that was not to be... she insisted on sleeping with it. She promised the mouse could sleep in his bed so he wouldn't get all smooshed for the photo shoot the next day.

She didn't know what the extra part would be. She guessed maybe a house to put the bed in. Ha... not quite. But I think the teeny tiny teddy bear made her even happier than a house would have. Here she is first thing in the morning, still in her jammies, after having found the teddy waiting for her:

She LOVED them! She barely let them out of her hands all day long! Of course that made Grandma super happy, too. :)

I cannot take credit for designing any of it. Nope, it was a pattern I purchased from Larissa Holland of mmmcrafts (who also wrote the tutorial for the tooth fairy pillow I made). You can see her originals here, with links to purchase the pattern yourself if you want to make them for someone you love, too. It's a very well-written pattern, with lots of helpful tips for sewing something that tiny. I had fun making it! The only change I made was to add the hearts to the chests of the mouse and teddy bear, because of course they were Valentine gifts!

Linking up to Amylouwho's Sew & Tell: