Thursday, December 8, 2011

Making Angels: Part I

My Dad spends half the year living in Florida so we don't see him very often throughout the winter.

Tomorrow, he's flying up for the Christmas season so a few of us went over to his house last night to decorate for his homecoming.

While there, my brother Mark's four girls and Jack worked on making angels to clip onto his Christmas tree.

I love pictures of people who are making things...


And, more specifically, pictures of kids making things...


I like to see which choices they make and which choices they reject.


How they choose to make themselves into an angel...

What kind of angel they will be...


Jack's was the simplest, just like Jack. One set of white wings.

When I asked him if he wanted a halo, he said, "Mom, I've got my red hat."

Evidently the red hat ranks highly in the angel kingdom.

On the opposite end of the spectrum we have the littlest one who couldn't put enough stuff on her angel, especially when it came to the tubes of glitter...


She claims that she enjoys organizing them in the drawer just as much as she likes using them...a surprise to her older sister who shared that her bedroom at home is a wreck. Oh, but life's too short to clean your bedroom when there's glitter in the world...


Notice Jack sitting in the background studying for the German test he has today...another reason his angel was so simple.

After the angels were dressed, the took their place on O Tannenbaum...albeit O Kleine Tannenbeaum...(we were all learning German)...


The middle one was quick to claim the top of the tree...


She doesn't get to be the highest very often. I think she'd be thrilled if we re-named the Christmas carol to Katie, We Have Heard on High.

The rest of the angels landed somewhere amongst the evergreen stars...


Five angels up, five angels still to go.

This season was too busy to try to get everyone together to make them all at once. Instead, I'm taking the Angel Craft Show on the road.

I'll head out to my other brother John's house on Sunday to herald three more angels.

I'll try to take some more step-by-step photos then and give you some tips on supplies and how to make your own cherubim and seraphim.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo everybody!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

What delightful angels they make! And so much more satisfying to the family than random curly-headed watercolours!

Maggie said...

These are so wonderful! Looking forward to seeing the angels to come.

coral-seas said...

Those are the best angels - EVER! Your dad is going to love his tree.

Jack make one cooool angel! You are one cooool Aunty!

gracie said...

What a wonderful idea and they look fantastic! Grandpa will be thrilled!

kaiteM said...

what a big surprise in store for grandpa, the angels are so rich with meaning and life.

Kathy said...

What a great idea; I hope you don't mind if I copy it!

Glenda said...

Oh my goodness, these ornaments are all that and a bag of chips!!

We adults (in my extended family) have agreed to not exchange gifts this holiday season, but I can't *not* gift *something* to my mom. Over the weekend, all the grandkids and I gathered at Mom's so the kids could decorate her ginormous tree. It's so much fun seeing the ornaments from when I was a baby all the way through those made last Christmas! My kiddo and I had plans for later in the week to go to the pottery place to make her some ornaments, but I think this ornament idea that you've shared totally trumps going and make ornaments at the pottery place. I most definitely be stealing this idea from you!! Thank you so much for sharing pictures.

And I must say, those are some beautiful angels...the ones on the tree, and the ones who crafted them :-).

Judy S. said...

I hope you catch a photo of your dad when he sees the tree! What a cute idea, Susan. And I'm so glad you encourage these kids to be creative. What a welcome break from texting and video games!

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Perfect! Your Dad is going to love that tree.

Catherine said...

Those are so cool! Can't wait to see the others and to hear more about how you make them.

Gerry Krueger said...

I'm not sure which is greater ... the angels or photos of them making them... sweet... Gerry K.

Faith said...

What a delightful idea!

Cyn said...

What an amazing idea! I am sending the URL of your post to the parents of my DGC & DGGC. Maybe they'll get the hint! lol. What a lovely story. I'll bet your Dad will be delighted with his special tree! You always come up with such great ideas.

Wendy said...

I love this, Susan!
Beautiful.
=-)

allie aller said...

Susan, you make my heart sing!!!!

pat sloan said...

What a great idea for Angels!

Glenda said...

Susan, I can see the photos are glued to clothespins, but what did you glue the photos to to give them a sturdy shape? A thin matboard or something?

Susan Elliott said...

Hi Glenda,
I used my xyron machine and ran the photos through them...then put the photo "stickers" on card stock and had the kids cut out their bodies...

does that help??

Glenda said...

Ah, okay, yes, that does help. I don't have one of those machines, but I bet I can riff on your idea and make it work another way!

Createology said...

I love the angels making angels of themselves. How great to decorate for Grandpa/Dad and have him home for Christmas. Jingle Bell Joys...

Elizabeth said...

These ornaments are so fabulous !! your Dad will absolutely adore them and I bet he takes them back to Florida with him. The girls are adorable, but I love Jack's- what a riot that kid is!!!!

Vcs31299 said...

I'd love to see a step by step video

Unknown said...

Made 3 sets with all 14 kids in the family for gifts. Can't wait to see the faces of the recipients when they open them! :) Thanks for the great idea!!!

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