There’s something so satisfying and enriching about crafting your own handmade Christmas gifts and decorations to surround ourselves and our loved ones with. Not only is the end result a warm, organic and eco-friendly look and feel, but the act of making in itself can mean much needed quality time with ourselves, or our family and friends, as well as providing time away from screens and a pause from that to-do list.
At Art Wrap we’re all about making every bit of your gift wrap pages count - we value their quality, design and beauty, and know you will too - and never want to see any of them go to waste. We wanted to share with you a lovely Christmas tree decoration tutorial that will help you use the offcuts from your Art Wrap sheets, ensuring nothing goes to waste, and you end up with something cute and useful too!
We love these simple folded angels. They can be made easily with materials you probably have on-hand around home. They require minimal cutting and glueing, so if you decide to make some by yourself, you can easily make a whole batch in an evening - or if you have little helpers around, the project is simple enough that they can get in on the action! These paper angels are perfect for your own tree, as gifts to others, or why not use them as the final touch on your beautifully wrapped gifts?
Happy making!
CHRISTMAS ANGEL TREE ORNAMENT TUTORIAL
For each angel you will need the following materials:
- Paper - any size can be used, recycling any offcuts you may have from gift wrapping, but A4 is a good starting point. In this tutorial we are using sheets from the Art Wrap ‘Nature’ book.
- A round bead
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Twine, yarn or ribbon
Directions:
- Cut two squares of paper, you can make your angel any size you wish, but the basic ratio is that the smaller square should be around half the size of the first.
For this tutorial I cut a 15cm square and a 7.5 cm square.
- Take your first square, and turn it so that the printed side is face down on your surface.
- Fold one edge of the paper over, and crease along the entire edge. The fold should be approx 8mm.Repeat the folding, backwards and forwards, until you have a ‘fan’.
- Repeat folding with the second square.
- Fold each ‘fan’ in half down the middle and place the small fan on top of the big one.
- Cut a length of twine, approx 20cm long, and tie the two fans together, around the centre-fold. Secure them tightly with a knot on the top of the smaller section.
- Spread out the bottom, larger, folds to make your ‘body’. Take your glue stick and stick the centre opening together, along the fold, so that you end up with one large fan at the bottom. You may need to pinch it tightly for a minute or so to ensure a good, secure, stick.
- Take your bead and thread it though both ends of the twine, positioning the bottom of the bead hole over the knot, concealing it, and also using it as an anchor for your bead. Tie the twine at the top, allowing enough length for a hanging loop. Trim any excess twine.
- Check the length and evenness of the arms and body - trim as required if you need to adjust. You can also cut a triangle off the bottom of the skirt, when it’s folded up, to create a pretty ‘v’ pattern along the base.
- Spread out the two ‘arm’ fans and fix with a little glue if required
- You now have your own paper angel. You can continue to decorate and customise as you wish - you might want to draw or paint on a face, add some yard for hair, or sparkles with glitter - you are only limited by your imagination - your Christmas tree will thank you for it!
