Hymn Book Angels

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” ~ Colossians 3:16-17

A friend of mine asked me for these directions a few days ago and as I looked through my files I couldn’t help but remember all of the angels God has placed in my life. I hope you can also think of one or two angels that you have been blessed to entertain on your journey!

Materials needed: Old Hymnal, Styrofoam ball (for head), Gold craft paint (optional), white craft glue, thin wooden dowel approx. 12 inches long (a shish-kabob skewer works well), a 12 inch pipe cleaner (gold or silver), coordinating craft paint

Instructions: Before you start making the hymnbook angel, find a song that you would like to use to cover the angel’s head. Put this aside until later.

Next, begin folding each page, starting in the middle of the hymn book, one by one, from the top corner of the page to the center to make the skirt for the hymnbook angel. continue doing this until you have folded approx. 1/4 of the pages from the back forward, and 1/4 of the pages from the front backward. You should end up with 1/2 of the hymn book folded in the center so it looks as if you have a skirt when the book is open.

After you have finished with the folding, put the book aside and take the page you removed, dip it in warm water, then wrap it around the Styrofoam ball being sure to smooth the folds and overlap the edges. You can insert the dowel into the ball now and stand upright to dry. (This takes approx. 6 – 8 hours)

Go back to the book and stand it up in the shape you would like it to have. Using a thinned out mixture of the white craft glue and water, brush the pages LIGHTLY so they are wet but not soaked through. Set aside to dry.

After everything has dried you can decorate the angel with a light brushing of the craft paint on the paper edges or the spine and book edges. This will give it a gilded effect. When the paint is dry (takes only a few minutes) assemble your angel by placing the dowel into the spine of the hymnal with the head now attached. Finally, attach the pipe cleaner as a halo on top of the head with some additional craft glue or hot glue.

You can also add lace, pearl beads, or other decorations to make your angel unique and give it personality!

May you be blessed to entertain your unique angels this year!

(For picture, go to attached link)