Sunday, December 4, 2016

Standing Wooden Christmas Angel

Christmas is such a festive time of the year!! I just love creating decorations, especially ones that can be used for many years to come. This wooden angel is one such decoration.

Here are the supplies you'll need to make your own angel:
  • 1/8" craft plywood
  • Round toothpick
  • Sandpaper of various grits (150-220-440)
  • Quick dry craft adhesive
  • Acrylic paint
  • Small paint brush
  • Glitter

I used these Proxxon tools:

The pattern originally was designed for paper arts, but I felt that it would easily translate to wood. After printing the pattern, I covered the wood surface with painter's tape. Next, I sprayed the back of the pattern with spray adhesive, and put that on top of the painter's tape. The spray adhesive holds the pattern in place, and the painter's tape makes removing it a breeze.


I cut out the angel using the scroll saw.

I used the Delta sander to sand the surfaces of the angel. I started with 220 grit sandpaper and finished with 440 grit. (NOTE: Depending on the surface condition of your wood, you may need to begin with a courser grit sandpaper, i.e. 150 grit, before proceeding with the finer grits.) I manually sanded the detail line in the wing with a piece of 440 grit sandpaper.

Surface sanding with the Delta sander
Manually sanding wing detail
You could drill a small hole at the top of the angel's head for hanging as an ornament. But I wanted it to stand, so I drilled a small hole the size of a round toothpick at the bottom of the angel to form a support stand.

Drilling hole for toothpick support
Close up of support stand
Next, glue the toothpick support in place. Then, paint the angel with acrylic paints. On one of my angels, while the paint was still wet, I liberally dusted it with glitter. Use your own ideas and creativity to  finish your angels.

These standing wooden angels will be part of our Christmas celebrations for years and years.
Carole

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