Folk Art Angels

Folk Art Angels are irresistibly cute.

I was watching 'Tootsie' on TV last week and there was a Folk Art Angel in Jessica Lange's character's apartment.  That's it, I thought, time to give them a try!

Now this version is made from cardboard.

This one is done on paper.  Both use the same template and are easy to put together.

You can make them as elaborate as you want.
















MATERIALS NEEDED:

- template  (Folk Art Angels)
- corrugated cardboard or heavy paper, book pages
- scissors
- paint, acrylic or tempera
- fine sharpies, gold and silver sharpie (optional)
- tacky glue
- wire
- glitter glue
- black crayon for paper stars
- sequins, beads, stars or gems
- feathers or garland for hair
- popsicle sticks for hand and feet


PROCEDURE:

Cardboard Version:

Print off my template, (Folk Art Angels).  Trace and cut out pieces from corrugated cardboard.

If you are using recycled cardboard with images on it you might want to prime your pieces first.  I also prime any pieces I'm going to be using metallic paints on as they tend to be quite translucent.

Paint your pieces in their final colours.

Using fine sharpies, (they have them in gold and silver too!), glitter, and paint add some fine details.

I used an end of a paintbrush in paint to make all the dots.

Add sequins, gems, beads or whatever you have on hand to embellish your angel.

For the face I painted it flesh toned.  I added two pink circles to the cheeks.  With a fine sharpie I added the face.

I used feathers for the hair which were glued on with tacky glue.

For the hand and the 2 feet I painted the ends of popsicle sticks. 

For the star halo I painted 2 cardboard stars yellow, added glitter and gems.

I took a piece of wire and glued it between the two like a sandwich.

I then slid the wire between the corrugations in the cardboard head. 

Glue all the pieces together.






The last thing you need to do is glue a skewer to the back.

You now have a great decoration to stick into a potted poinsettia or Christmas arrangement.












Paper Version:

For the paper version you need to paint a background.  Here I taped off a piece of wc paper onto an art board.  I then painted on purple, blue and a little black using disk tempera.



Set aside to dry.








Cut your template (Folk Art Angel) pieces out of heavy paper.  I used an old brown paper bag.


I used book pages for the stars.

I painted all my pieces and set them aside to dry.


Then I started decorating.  I used reinforcements, sharpies, and sequins in my design.

For the stars I used a technique I have described before.  I outline the edges with a little black crayon and then add some glitter.

When the background is dry glue your pieces into place.  For this version I cut the hand and feet out of the same brown paper.


For the hair I added a little silver garland.

Lastly I drew in a wand with silver sharpie and added a silver star.

That's it!





These angels are just too cute!  I plan on making up a mini version as a tree ornament for the kids to make at our Annual Christmas Craft Day.  It is fast approaching and I'm knee deep in the preparations.  (150 kids, 12 crafts, one terrific morning of craftiness!)


Be sure to check out this week's giveaway on Wednesday's post and I'll see you then.