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12.22.2016

Folded Book Christmas Angels & Trees

My Mom and I have been crafting and making things all of my life...
long ago, she and I created angels, choir boys, Santas, and snowmen
out of Readers Digest books with folded pages.
Back then, we painted ours gold and white and red, 

and the heads were round styrofoam balls.

Well, this year, Mom got the idea to make some of those again!

Continue Reading for more about our creations... 



We agreed that leaving the pages natural was a good choice for our color scheme,
and that angels fit our theme of 'Tidings of Comfort & Joy' -
so we played around with old books until we came up with a few in different sizes.
Details like wings, hymnals, and halos were cut from different paper for contrast.

When it came to adding heads, styrofoam balls just were NOT going to work!
I thought about using gold metallic ornaments, but they just looked wrong.
On a whim, I dug into a box of vintage costume jewelry,

and found clip on earrings that look a little bit like faces!
After that, I added some tiny seed pearl multi-strand bracelets & necklace for a little elegance. 
We displayed the three angels together, and they looked perfect....
until they got better!

Today in the mail, there was a package from my little sister.
She sent the tree you see in these photos - 

a tree that SHE made from an old book, 
in the same 'folded page' way that we made our angels!

We might be across the country from each other this Christmas,
but our hearts are on the same page!


4 comments:

  1. I used to have a Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause made from Readers Digest. Maybe I'll make a pair for next year.

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    Replies
    1. Rina, you just reminded me of something that happened to me two years ago at Christmas time.... I was in a thrift store and saw a folded paper Santa sitting up on a shelf. It was tattered and torn, obviously had been very loved for many years, and it made me think of the sweet choirboys that my Mom used to make. I was going to buy that paper Santa for her, to make her smile, and then I saw the price tag - they wanted somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 bucks for that thing! Nope, sorry, Deb is too cheap for that ;)

      I'm glad my post reminded you of something you once had and enjoyed - and if you do make another pair for yourself, I'd love to see them! Merry Christmas, and thank you for visiting my blog!

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  2. I don't see directions. How exactly do you make these? And, can you only use soft cover books?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, 'Anonymous'. I generally don't approve comments by people who do not have their name in their account, but you posed two questions that I find I'd like to answer:

      'I don't see directions. How exactly do you make these?'
      ~ I don't make these 'exactly' at all. I make them by remembering what my Mom and I did as a kid, and playing around with paper, scissors, glue sticks, folded book pages, and costume jewelry for about two hours until I come up with something that looks like I want it to. It's crafting, it's art, it's play, it's an exercise in taking an old idea and coming up with something new. And I didn't provide directions, which is why you don't see them. However if you Google 'folded book art', you'll be able to find some other inspiring photos and even tutorials online for similar projects.

      I post a lot of photos and projects here on my blog. They serve to inspire people to get creative using what they have around the house. I don't provide tutorials/directions on much of what I share because I don't have time to do that (photograph every step, edit, and create a 12-step tutorial) for every craft & project that I make. Also, I may be creating these to sell in the near future, and I am not stupid enough to give away all of my secrets - or I'll never be able to sell a single product. (I refer to my Sweater Pumpkin Tutorial for further proof of THAT mistake.)

      'And, can you only use soft cover books?'
      ~ Yes. Unless you can figure out how to fold over the hardboard covers on hardback books....

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