DIY: Christmas Tree Topper
A craft cone, some fabric and lots of imagination will give you a handmade angel tree topper that you'll treasure for years. This simple design is a good project for using up scraps of elegant dress material and pieces of leftover fancy holiday ribbon. Make a single angel for the tree or a row of angels to line up amid some tiny white Christmas lights snaked across the mantel. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hollow craft cone Unfinished wood craft ball, sized in proportion to the cone Scrap of beautiful fabric, enough to wrap around the cone Glue gun Strong craft glue Hobby paint to match the fabric Small paintbrush 5-inch piece of thin, stiff craft wire Thin gold craft wire French wired ribbon Thin nail and light hammer Styrofoam block to hold head while painting it (optional)
Instructions
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1
Glue a scrap of embroidered white fabric—or another beautiful fabric in any jewel-tone color—around a hollow craft cone for the angel's robe. If the fabric has a scalloped or fancy edge, let that hang free, slightly lower than the bottom edge of the cone.
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2
Use a skinny nail to tap a small hole in the unfinished wood ball. Bend a 5-inch piece of stiff craft wire in half, twist the folded end to a point, dip it in glue and insert in the hole. Stick the protruding wire in a piece of Styrofoam to hold it and paint the head the same color as the robe fabric. When the head is dry, poke the ends of the wire through the top of the cone and gently bend them open inside to fasten the head to the robe. Glue-gun the wires to the inside of the cone to hold them in place.
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3
Make a double bow of 1 ½ to 2-inch-wide French wired ribbon with two long ends hanging down. A double bow gives you four loops. Squash the center of the knot as flat as possible and glue-gun to the angel’s back just below the neck. Bring the loose ends around on either side of the cone, curve them from the shoulders down like full sleeves and trim on a slight curve so that the lower end points of the sleeves nearly touch. Dot a bit of glue on the ends to hold the sleeves in place.
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4
Twist a piece of thin gold craft wire into a halo and glue to the angel’s head. Fan the ribbon loops out behind the angel like wings. Slip the cone over the top spire of the Christmas tree.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are making angels to sit on a table or the mantel, keep the fabric hem even with the bottom of the cone so they will be stable.
References
- Photo Credit angel image by Dubravko Grakalic from Fotolia.com
