A batch of little turned mice in willow and laurel, each one finished with lacquer, magnets and a leather tail.
16 August 2026 · The Yorkshire Garage
One of the first things I turned after I got my first lathe was this little mouse
I've learnt a thing or two since then and have turned a fair amount of things, so I wanted to give it a go and make a handful of the cute little buggers from some offcuts.
The lighter ones are Willow, the darker ones are Laurel, both my mate Scott sourced for me near Leeds. I had a small stack of rough offcuts from preparing bigger blanks. Mice are fairly simple, slightly chunky things, but they have a lot of character once the ears, eyes, and tails go in.
Here is how my little horde came together.
1. Roughing out the shape. I start by roughing out the body shapes on the lathe, turning the blank into a little mouse silhouette before I worry about the detail. This is the part where each one starts to feel like an actual mouse rather than just an oddly shaped bit of wood.2. Repeat for the whole lot. Once I had the first one sorted, I repeated the same roughing and sanding routine for all the mousey blanks. It is one of those jobs that is a calmingly repetitive and satisfying once you have the batch lined up and ready to go.3. Drilling the details. I drilled in the little eye holes, the ear holes and the tail hole, then added a wider hole in the base to glue in a tiny magnet. That way the mice can sit on metal surfaces and look like they are doing a little bit of exploring around my workshop.4. Finish and dry. A quick blast of lacquer gives them a nicer finish, and a clamp makes a great little surface for storing them while the coats dry. The magnets also mean a couple of nails are perfect for holding them in place while they cure and don’t end up sliding around all over my bench.5. Eyes and tails. Finally, its over to the craft table and on with the little details. I glued in the eyes using beads and added the tails with a bit of leather cord. It is such a simple addition, but it completely changes them from blank little wooden shapes into proper little mice.6. Ears. I cut out some little teardrop shapes from some pleather, and then glued them in place. They have the right sort of floppy little shape and they give the whole piece a more characterful finish.7. Finished mouse. There we have it; a finished little mouse. A bit of wood, a couple of bead eyes, a leather tail, and a dash of cuteness.8. The full horde. Finally, the full horde. A proper little crew of turned mice, all with their own little personalities and all very happy to live on a nail in the workshop.
