A Crafty Angel

I went to our Library's Christmas Open House a few days ago.

One of the crafts I made was an angel from a page of a songbook.

They are easy to make and beautiful.

First gather supplies.

Take out a page from an old songbook and tear it in half. Fold one half accordion style for the wings. Fold the other one into a cone shape and glue together. Make sure the top of the cone is small and pointy, so you can insert the head onto it. For the head I used small wooden beads with a hole in the middle. Or, you can use small heads with a hole in the middle of them. Put glue on the top of the cone and inside the hole of the bead and insert and allow to dry.

Tie a small ribbon around the middle of the wings and smash it flat in the middle, so it can be glued onto the back of the angel. I tied the ends of the ribbon for the hanger.

Tie a bow with the ribbon. Cut a strand of pearls. Glue the bow and pearls onto the front of the angel underneath the angel's head.

Thin a little bit of glue with water. Brush onto the wings and head and shake on glitter.

Here are three different ones I have made. One has a doll head, the other two have wooden beads for the head.

I love them! I think they are very pretty. As with all crafts, you can vary the way you make them. If you don't have strands of beads, you can leave them off and keep the tails of the bows long. In fact, I think I will make some that way. You could also use white or colored paper or card-stock for the angel instead of a songbook page. . . or maybe even pretty gift wrap paper. . . or pages from a newspaper or old book. With a little imagination, the possibilities are endless!

These can be hung on your Christmas tree or used as present toppers. That way the recipient of the gift will have the gift and an ornament!

If you have a little extra time, have fun and make a few before Christmas. 


Posted by Janet Smart  on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Deck The Halls

We have three holly trees, but this is the only one with berries.We braved the brrrr cold and gave our decked out tree a little trimming. If you notice, the deer have been eating the berries off the lower branches.

But there are still plenty of limbs filled with berries just waiting for us to trim.

The red berries pop out against the shiny green leaves.

They will brighten my porch on cold days.

Have you been decorating your porch with nature?

Posted by Janet Smart  on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Mason Jar Snow Globes

First, a little update.

My Christmas tree is up! It is filled  with vintage, handmade and special ornaments given to me.

I love this vintage one. If you hang it in front of a light, the heat from the light makes the little fins spin around and around. It is so neat!

We've had lots of snow already this season . . .

 and I have been crafting - just a little.

I gathered supplies, such as mason jars, glue gun, fake snow, fake trees and ...

 real pine cones to be used as trees.

I put a little fake snow into the mason jar. I placed the trees on little wooden spools so they stood up higher and glued them onto the flat jar lid. I then twisted on the outer ring and we have a waterless snow globe. 

Below are three of my creations. In the smaller one on the right I used a pine cone and glitter for the snow.

The small jar on the left was filled almost to the top with distilled water, a smidgen of glycerin and a few dashes of glitter. I glued a plastic doo-dad (a small child holding a Christmas tree) to the lid and twisted the ring on tight.

The first thing I did before making it was put water in the small jelly jar and turn it upside down to make sure it wasn't going to leak.

These are very easy to make.

Have you been getting ready for Christmas?

Posted by  Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.