Shopping local on Etsy: Mousesnaps

February 23, 9:04 AMPhiladelphia Arts and Crafts ExaminerLaura Draper

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Credit: Mousesnaps

Every once in a while you come across someone else’s creation, and it has that perfect combination of practicality and style that makes you think: why didn’t I think of that?!?  The goods at the Etsy store for Mousesnaps are just like that.  They were born in a main line garage, when two women wanted to glam up an everyday item that was a necessary evil in their lives.  Mousetraps.  That’s right, I said mousetraps, transformed from their store-bought state, to painted, glittery versions of their former selves.  

Mousesnaps consists of Mimi, 25, who lives just outside Philly, and Nova, 26, a New York City resident.  While their dream is to turn Mousesnaps into a two-woman empire, they currently spend their days working in marketing and public relations, respectively.  The idea for the painted traps came purely from the desire to make it a little easier to look at the contraptions that Mimi and Nova had to purchase in order to control mouse problems in their old apartments. 

“As if having mice wasn't bad enough, the traps were just so unsightly - every time I looked at them, I got annoyed,” says Nova.  “I couldn't understand why someone didn't make decorative mousetraps by now.   So Mimi and I decided to make our own. We got together one weekend, bought ten cans of paint and got busy in Mimi’s garage. I don’t think people really took us seriously until they saw the finished product and were like, ‘OK, those are adorable!’”

And adorable is the perfect word for them.  They are the ultimate mix of hipster style and “sparkly teenager bedroom”.  Some are painted in bright colors, some in metallics, and many of them are adorned with polka dots, sparrows, and flowers.  It’s like taking your favorite wallpaper and covering a cardboard box with it.  Something ordinary becomes something chic with a swish of a brush.

“Besides, it's kind of like the whole ‘when life gives you lemons’ thing, but with mice,” says Nova.

 As I wrote this post, I got a follow-up email from Mimi and Nova, where they proudly told me that their current stock (yeah, all of it) was purchased by a store in Singapore.  Mousesnaps has gone international, but you can still get your hands on some pretty rodent deathtraps because these ladies spent the weekend back in Mimi’s garage, whipping up a whole new batch to sell to Etsy buyers.  I don’t think there’s anything that can be done about the horrifying sound of a mousetrap doing its job, but Mimi and Nova sure do their best to make the experience a little bit cuter.