I tried to make chocolate mice. What a mess and what I learned.

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First, about the only things I did correctly were to put what I was making on waxed paper. Well I also bought almonds already cut up for the ears. Second, I really, really needed to take the marashino cherries out and drain them well and/or dry them. Otherwise, the chocolate just glides right off them. Third, I should have matched the cut up almonds for ears before I started because hunting for matches takes way too much time. Without hunting, by just grabbing a couple, you end up with a small ear and a large one. Fourth, I should have counted the number of cherries and made sure that I not only had enough matching ears, but also enough unwrapped chocolate kisses for the head/nose. So the chocolate kept sliding off, the ears didn't always stick and the kisses didn't always either. So I had piles of chocolate sliding off the back end, mismatched ears or ones that slid all over so you couldn't tell what the nuts were for, and sometimes the kisses looked like the mouse had been guiloteened. The guy who always makes them for the carving club said to have piles of each item ready to make an assembly line, but I could have used a little more instruction than that, or at least it seems that way to me. Often, I had more chocolate on me and less on the food. A friend said to use a double boiler for dipping, gives you more time. So just in case you try them, have waxed paper ready, have 3 piles of stuff ready, but make sure the cherries are pretty dry, the ears are preselected and enough pairs, and the kisses are unwrapped and enough of them. I tried natural canned cherries, too. They kept falling apart, not firm enough. Maybe fresh ones. But we only have those available for a short time up here. I want a rematch! So did you ever have a recipe that you wished had more instructions? Did you keep trying? Did you learn how to do it better eventually? Did you write extra directions down for next time?