How to Make an Angel Tree Topper

Top your Christmas tree with an adorable angel. You can make an elegant angel adorned in lace or gold-trimmed velvet. You can also make a country angel with raffia hair, dressed in calico. There are so many styles of angels ' make yours unique and use it year after year.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Brushes
• Doll Hair
• Gold 1/4-inch Wire-edged Ribbons
• Satin Ribbon
• 2 12mm Wooden Beads
• 9-inch Tree Topper Cones
• Acrylic Paints
• Fiberfill
• Glues
• Lightweight Base Fabrics
• Metallic Threads
• Sewing Machine
• Sewing Needles
• Thimbles
• 8-inch-square Lace Doilies
• Scissors
• Angel Or Doll Heads
• 4-inch-long, 1/4-inch-wide wooden thin wood dowels
• 3-inch papier-mâché eggs

1. Wrap a 9-inch plastic tree topper cone in a 9-by-23-inch piece of base fabric ' broadcloth, muslin or another lightweight fabric ' and glue fabric into place.
2. Use skin-toned acrylic paints to paint a 3-inch papier-mâché egg (head), a 4-inch-long, 1/4-inch-wide wooden dowel (neck) and two 12mm wooden beads (hands). Set aside and allow to dry.
3. Paint desired facial features onto the egg. The top of the head will be at the wider end. Glue doll hair and a halo onto the top of the head. Make a halo with a 9-inch length of 1/4-inch gold wire-edged ribbon that has been rolled and made into a circle. Glue halo to hair.
4. Cut out a 1-inch-diameter hole for a neck opening from the center of a 12-by-18-inch piece of fabric. Use a metallic or other coordinating thread and hand stitch the cut edges so they're bound and won't unravel.
5. Fold the fabric in half widthwise, right sides out, to form a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Stitch across the fabric 3/8 inch from the fold to make sleeves. Stop your stitches 1/2 inch from each side of the neck opening. The center of the dress is not to be stitched.
6. Take two narrow 12-inch lengths of metallic or coordinating satin ribbon and tie a knot at one end of each length. Thread a wooden bead onto each ribbon and put some glue on each knot. Slide the bead onto the knot and allow to dry.
7. Thread each unknotted ribbon end through the sleeve casings made in step 5 and out through the neck hole. Place the fabric onto the cone and tie the loose ribbon ends into a bow that will sit under the angel's chin. The hands should be at the center front of the angel. The sleeves will be folded to the front.
8. Use scissors to poke a small hole into the bottom of the doll's head. Carefully insert the dowel 2 inches into the egg. The dowel should fit snugly. Insert the other end of the dowel into the top of the cone and glue into place.
9. Fold an 8-inch-square lace doily in half diagonally to form a triangle. Stitch the edges together but leave a small opening. Stuff wings with a small amount of fiberfill and hand stitch the gap closed.
10. Hand sew a running stitch down the center of the wings. Sew through both layers. Leave thread ends unknotted. Pull thread ends so the center area of the wings is gathered. Wrap threads tightly around the center of the wings. Knot and trim excess.
11. Tie a narrow wire-edged ribbon around the gathered area of the wings, position wings against the back of the angel and then tie a bow under the angel's neck. Arrange and trim bow as desired.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a base fabric in a color that coordinates with any other fabrics you've chosen for your angel. The base fabric will be visible. Arrange doll so that seamed areas of the base will be at the back of the angel.
• Use a purchased angel or doll head for your tree topper.
• Finish and trim the edges of the gown fabric before you cut the neck opening.
• Use lace or any lace-edged fabric for the wings.
• Do a running stitch by bringing needle up through fabric and then down again and then up again. Take several stitches on your needle before pulling thread all the way through. Keep stitches evenly spaced.

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