Trimmings and An Angel

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Trimmings and An Angel

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Another thing that comes to mind when I think of Christmas is the tree. So what better way to decorate the tree or the area around it than with itty bitty trees?

I made these little ones with scraps of some craft foam I got at a thrift store. I made them into little cones before gluing and stacking them on each other.

The glue of choice for this one was hot glue from my trusty glue gun. And I only burnt myself twice this time. After that, I just decorated them with squeeze tube fabric paint and added gold braid for loops and decoration.

Something similar could possibly be done by children as a fun project. I say similar because I wouldn’t want them messing with a glue gun, plus the project wouldn’t be any fun for them if an adult had to do all the gluing.

I got this old Bratz doll from a baggie of dolls from Goodwill. It was the same baggie that my other Monster High doll came in (see Dressed Duo and Red Shoes), so she was sort of a bonus in the mix.

As you can see, her hair was a horrible mess. She also had no clothes which is normal for a thrift shop doll and had no shoes/feet which is normal for a used Bratz doll. And to top it off, the poor thing had a broken wrist. I thought of something very special to do with her.

So here’s the the before…

…And after.

She is now a Christmas angel, perfect for the tree or as a center piece.

First I cleaned her up and detangled all that hair. I trimmed her hair and curled it too. How do you curl doll hair? You use either small strips of fabric or doll size curlers to roll the hair up.

Then the tricky part, boiling water. You pour boiling water over the hair and set the doll down to cool and dry off. It’s a technique I read in a doll book years ago, but I can’t remember which one. I wouldn’t try it on a particularly valuable doll or brittle looking hair hair, but it’s fine dolls like this one with nothing left to lose.

The front sections of the hair are twisted to the sides and glued in place. I used my trusty Aleene’s Jewel-It for this part. The dress is just something I quickly whipped up with white fabric scraps. I sewed it both on the machine and by hand and tied a ribbon around it.

To make the base, I cut up a PowerAde bottle. I cut off the top half of the bottle and covered it with a pretty fabric scrap using a glue gun to secure it. The doll’s legs and hips fit perfectly through the mouth of the bottle.

For the wings, I used a 2 litter soda bottle. I cut off the top part of the bottle and removed the spout part. I cut the piece in half and trimmed the two pieces to just the right shape.

These “wings” wouldn’t stop curling in too much at first, so I very carefully ironed them at a low heat. I didn’t want them to melt all over my nice clean iron. I glued the wings to a piece of fabric and glued them to the back of my angel.

All it took to finish is the halo, made from braided ribbon. A bit of work, but she is one beautiful piece of recycling magic.

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