Retro Felt Angels - DIY Vintage Style Christmas Craft

I recently got a shipment of these wonderful spun cotton angel heads from the Czech Republic- in PINK!  This project was inspired by this wonderful display of bohemian angels that I found in a 1960s ladies magazine:

 

To make this assortment of retro angels, I collected scraps of felt in different colors (you only need about a 6x8 inch piece for each one.  I also thrifted a bunch of cool rick rack trims to use as embellishments on their robes.  I experimented with different materials for the hair: some bump chenille, glass glitter, and yarn.  The bodies here are made of 4x2 inch paper mache cones, but you can also just make cones out of cardstock, or repurpose old yarn cones. Much of the decoration can be improvised as you go.  I have paper wings here in the shop, but they can also be simply cut from paper or felt.

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 Supplies: 

• 20mm Pink Spun Cotton Angel Heads
• 4 inch Paper Mache Cones 
• Paper Wings
• Curly chenille hair
• Metallic Tinsel Pipe Cleaners (for halos), wired tinsel cord in silver or gold, or pipe cleaner roping in silver or gold
• Assorted Rick Rack Trims
• Sequins
• Felt (6x8 inches per angel)
• 6" Old Fashioned Pipe Cleaners (for arms)
• Hot Glue Gun, Low Temp Hot Glue
• Scissors
• Festive Trinkets - Holly Leaves, Mini Bells

 

 

Step 1: 

Cut a square of felt, approximately 6x6".  Lay the cone diagonally at the center of the felt square, so that when the sides of the felt are brought up the entire cone will be covered.  Run a bead of glue along the length of the cone, cover entirely with the felt, and press until the felt is securely attached to the ocne.  Trim off the excess felt. Snip off the top 1/2 inch of the cone so that the top is flat.  Attach the angel head with the felt seam at the back.

Step 2:

Cut a rectangle of felt measuring 3 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches.  Lay a 6" pipe cleaner on the center of the rectangle, running along with the length, and glue it in place.  Fold in the ends of the pipe cleaner, leaving just about 1/2 inch extending past the felt. These will be the hands.  Apply glue to one side of the felt, along the length, and then fold the felt over the pipe cleaner, encasing it inside.  Press along all the edges until the glue is set.  Then, fold the arms together, and trim the lower edge of the felt at a slight angle so that the "sleeves" of the robe will be wider at the cuff.  Pose the arms to make elbow joints and a rounded back, and then attach the arms to the back of the angel with a dot of glue.

Step 3:

Decorate the angel's robe with collected trims, sequins, glitter- anything colorful.

Step 4: 

Create hair for the angel.  You can use wired trims coiled up and glued in place, a coat of glue that is then glittered, or simply use paint to design a 2-D hairstyle.

Step 5: 

Bend a metallic pipe cleaner into a circle to form a halo.  A halo can be glued to the back of the neck, or wrapped around the forehead.  

Step 6:

Add paper wings, or create wings out of felt.  Give the angels some sort of small festive trinket to hold, or pose the hands.

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