gathering of angels--peg doll angel how to
December 20, 2020
The inspiration for my sweet angel congregation was a YouTube video I happened upon by accident; a factory tour of Wendt & Kuhn, the German company that makes charming, tiny painted wooden figures. I collect Wendt and Kuhn and am also strangely attracted to factories so finding this gem made my day. The documentary was in German and I understood not a word, but I was spellbound. When I saw the assembly line spending their gentle work day painting armies of tiny wooden angels I knew with certainty that I too would soon be painting an army of angels. Dream job! Perhaps the oddest thing is that I already had all the supplies in my craft room. (When I told this to my husband his eyes almost rolled out of his head.) So just like Wendt & Kuhn I gathered my supplies and set up an assembly line, but that's where the similarity between Wendt & Kuhn and me ends. My angels use supplies and a skill set that is more approachable to the average crafter. Creating these little gals lifted my spirits no end. I kept calling in my husband at every stage to admire their cuteness. I made them over two days then gave them a third day to make sure they were good and dry. I slipped them into our Christmas cards and the next few days my husband will drive me around to drop them off at our friend's mailboxes. We're hoping to make some fun outings of it and bundle into the top-down Corvette if it's not too cold. I made 60 and I think I'll be giving away every last one of them. They make a touching Christmas greeting that can be hung on the tree or tied to a gift.
Fun DIY below with shopping links at the end.
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The 2" wooden peg dolls are very inexpensive and easy to find. They are great to have on hand for little ones to create their favorite storybook friends. My grandson and I have made many storybook people such as The Big Bad Wolf and The Three Little Pigs. Before we can read the book we have to scramble around and find our little peg people. For this project, I left the face unpainted and with two coats of acrylic paint I gave the girls a short bob with a side sweep of bangs. |
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Use a toothpick dipped in paint to make eyes and a red mouth. Now they begin to take on some life. |
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To insert screw eye pins: Make a hole at top of head with a push pin. Push the tiny screw eye pin into this hole. Give one or two twists with your fingers and then insert a toothpick into the screw eye to use for leverage. Twist until fully screwed in. |
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Now it's time to add the glam! Paint bodies with white glue and sprinkle on fine glitter and let dry overnight. I used gold, silver, white and dark gray. |
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| To make wings: cut a piece of wool felt approximately 2" long by 5/8" wide. Fold in half and snip a little wedge out, see above. Next cut a scallop and unfold. |
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Dot a bit of white glue to the wing center and attach to top back. I planned to be done at this point but I knew something was missing. The halos! I tried a dozen ideas with felt, pipe cleaners, and paper but liked nothing and almost gave up before a lightbulb went on. Button halo. Perfect. |
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Buttons were hot glued to the backs of the heads, and voila, the angels are finished and angelic-adorable. |
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| I love a project that can make use of my vintage button stash. |
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| I slipped the angels into a small paper bag and put them in my cards. Unfortunately I couldn't seal them! |
24 Comments
Oh my goodness-the sweetness! I’m looking for some crafts to do with my adult daughter and my sons girlfriend and I think I’ve found the first one-thanks! I laughed out loud with the comment of your husband’s eyes rolling out of his head-such a familiar reaction! 💕
ReplyDeleteThis made my day! Thank you for commenting. I cannot think of a nicer way to spend time than to craft with daughter and son’s girlfriend. I think this will be a great one for you all to do.
DeleteBest, Kristen
I could imagine the angels singing a chorus! Was it difficult to glue the halos since it wasn't a flat surface?
ReplyDeleteHi Norma
DeleteI hope I’m writing to your correct email address because for some reason I couldn’t find your email to respond. I blame it on Blogger! To answer your question, the halos were hard to put on until I got out that glue gun. I hate to use it but sometimes it’s the only thing that will work.
Thank you for commenting and hope you are having a good week-before-Christmas. Kristen
Life is hard - especially these days. We need an army of angels to help us get through it. These are adorable. Especially in large numbers. LOL I had the same reaction to the eye-rolling. Chloe
ReplyDeleteThank you Chloe. Yes, we do all need an army of angels these days. The news this morning made me want to go in my craft room and whip up another army! Thank you so much for commenting. Hope you are having a good week before Christmas!
DeleteI absolutely love this little project and would love to see more!
ReplyDeleteThat’s so nice to know and thank you so much for commenting. Kristen
DeleteSuper cute🥰
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I've never commented on your lovely blog until now, but I couldn't let another blog go by without letting you know that I enjoy all your blogs, knitting, gardening, setting table, and your crafts too. I get a smile on my face when I see your letter in my inbox because I know I will love it. I agree with above that we could use an army of angels right now! Happy Holidays to you and yours. Teri
ReplyDeleteThis just popped on while I was answering comments so I hope you see my answer. Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I write about what I like and what I'm doing, and I think that if I like it there must be other people who like it too. Thank you so much for letting me know. :) I've been thinking of making a survey for my readers to find out what they like, but in the end I really only post about what I'm actually doing in real life so a survey would really just be for curiosity's sake. Thank you again Teri and hope you have a happy holiday too!
DeleteI love those little angels! I try to make my sisters and sister-in-law a little something each year. Also make something for the folks I am with on my Tuesday night volunteering at my local library. These will be great for next year. I started following your blog for your knitting (beautiful by the way); but have enjoyed seeing your recipes (made bone broth for the first time at Thanksgiving following your posts) and would love to see more crafts that you make. Waiting for those lights for the jars to get back in stock which was an earlier craft you made. In other words, yes, more.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda for your lovely comment. It's nice to know you like the crafts. A little boxed set of an angel trio would be the nicest homemade gift. What a nice tradition. You aren't the only one who is waiting for those darn lights to get back in stock. xo Kristen
DeleteI feel very fortunate to have been gifted one of these lovely angels. Sixty of them????? You are amazing.
ReplyDeleteCarole
Thank you sweetie, and all 60 are gone!
DeleteTotal cleverness!
ReplyDeleteThank you. It was a fun project!
DeleteSo many possibilities. It is a family tradition to give everyone in the family an ornament each year and these would be perfect and a fun project for my 20 and 24 yr. old grand girls to do assembly line fashion. I'll order supplies to be prepared. I especially love your galvanized house and happen to know my ornament from youngest daughter is similar! As soon as we can gather again, we plan on cutting up some old velvet crazy quilts for stockings and another cotton quilt for a jacket. We saw some cute trees made of fabric points so we can really be ahead of the game for NEXT Christmas. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteOuuu, I think your idea of crazy quilt stocking is genius. I have an old crazy quilt that I have no idea what to do with. And yes, it's all about trying to plan ahead. I have an idea for next Christmas and hope I remember it come next year! Merry Christmas! Kristen
DeleteWhen I read your posts, I think you must be my long-lost sister. Your crazy crafts and interests make me smile from ear to ear. I call my husband to look at my latest crafts as well. He's still shaking his head from last week's knit olive for my (empty) martini glass. I feel so blessed that you are willing to post your delightful and well-written escapades. I know you give joy to many, many people. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. LOL, a knitted olive, I love it, and oddly enough, I can picture it too! If I didn't think that martinis tasted like poison I would knit one too!
DeleteThank you, Kristen, for this wonderful idea. I will definitely be making these angels next year when I"m in a more festive Christmas spirit. I love all your crafty projects as well as your gardening and knitting. Especially your knitting :)
ReplyDeleteXO........Annie
Hi Annie. Thank you so much for your kind comment. I'm glad to know that you'll be making these next year. They were FUN! Best, Kristen
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