In the Victorian era, the women of the house prepared for the arrival of the Christmas tree by making beautiful ornaments from coloured papers and card.
Angels and cherubs were a popular choice as they were regarded as symbols of childlike innocence and purity.
Times have changed. . .
Our lives are fast paced and way too busy to contemplate lovingly making all the decorations for the Christmas tree. . .
But we can recreate some of that old fashioned Victorian magic with a few homemade decorations using some gorgeous artwork from that era.
I’ve just filled my tree with the sweetest vintage angel ornaments.
Victorian Angel Ornaments
Materials:
Vintage book paper,
Victorian Angel printout – download here,
Pinking shears and small pointed scissors,
Small hole punch,
Mod Podge,
All Purpose Glue,
Fine opal dust glitter,
Narrow cream silk ribbon or some type of cord for hanging.
Instructions:
1. Remove pages from an aged book.
2. Trim the page sides with pinking shears, but not the top and bottom of the page.
3. Fold the length of the page in a concertina fashion.
4. Fan out your concertina from the centre, so that each side reconnects to form a circle.
5. Use the All Purpose Glue to adhere…. I used small bulldog clips to hold in place while the glue dried.
6. Cut out your Victorian angels using sharp pointy scissors.
7. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the wing area of your Angel and the perimeter of the paper circle.
8. Dust both areas with fine glitter.
9. Using the small hole punch, make a hole in the top of the paper backing circle for hanging.
10. I threaded a narrow silk ribbon through mine and knotted to secure.
11. Attach the angel to the paper backing using the All Purpose glue.
12. Attach a pretty organza bow to the angels bodice to finish it off.
[Pin for later]
I hope you enjoy making these Victorian Angel Ornaments as much as I did!
Merry Christmas,
♥
Kerryanne
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Thank you so much! Love it!!
Thank you so much. I’m really into making my Christmas decorations this year. These are lovely xx
So beautiful!
Thank you! These are so sweet! Wouldn’t they be darling to add our children’s or grandchildren’s photo in place of the angel-but keep the wings. A tree full of both angels would be so cute!
Cathy ♥
oh these are so sweet! thanks for the Tute!!
How precious! I love the gradin you chose!
What an adorable ornament! Thanks so much for sharing a great tutorial, I can’t wait to make some of these for our tree!
These are really cute and I appreciate the step-by-step tutorial. Some tutorials assume we know what we’re doing, which is how I end up covered in hot glue and glitter, instead of the craft!
Very pretty, thank you.
You’re such a sweetie to share this with us. The ornament is adorable and for some strange reason gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. lol
Sooooooo pretty Kerryanne. What a beautiful addition to the tree.
Toni xx
So beautiful, Kerryanne.
Cynthia
Those are beautiful Kerryanne!
Simone
Darling darling darling girl! I LOVE this ornament! I have one you made me last year and it decorates my hallway all year round. I now look forward to making some for other friends! I absolutely ADORE your first e-zine! It’s delectibly gorgeous… the layout, the design… the projects… your opening editorial. Just love it sweetie! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks for a great post and tutorial!! Love the vintage ornament and it’s history. I have made Christmas ornaments for many years. Gifts, Just Because Christmas drop offs, and a collection for each son. I’ve a collection of “HOMEMADE” for 1 large tree. This Angel will be lovely to start doing it for my 3 sweet granddaughters. Thanks for the fun and memories.
I love this tutorial. My granddaughter and I will be making this…thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.
Can’t tell you how much I appreciate you sharing this project with us and supplying the gorgeous art work. For some reason when it printed out it’s in some kind of gobbledy gook? Some kind of weird characters. Don’t have any idea how to change it so it’ll print in English. I’ll have to go back and write on the paper what the directions are. The pictures help immensely but I need the words also, DUH, lol.
I printed out the artwork on card stock then printed it on photo paper, the photo paper was much clearer, prettier. Enhanced the artwork. Again thank you, will so enjoy making these for special gifts.
If you have any idea how to correct the “language it printed out in please let me know at: [email protected] thanks.
Love this cute idea and will keep it in mind !
xoxo
Joëlle
so very pretty love them my mother has always thought of angels as being precious
come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
wow, there gorgeous, oh how the tree must look with these, love it!!!
Paula
Beautifully done. Thank you so much for sharing the image and how to create the ornament 🙂
What a really nice and beautiful idea, I am so glad you shared it, I will definitely try it at home for my tree, thank you so much for this project. it’s awesome.
Oh Wow! These are truly beautiful! I love the vintage vibe for Christmas.
<3 Christina at I Gotta Create!
Wildly Original linky party is open
Just dropping you a note to say I have made over 3 dozen of these darling angels and they are so very beautiful. I hope my Staff and family enjoy them as many are for gifts. Thanks so much for sharing. They are soooo beautiful!
glenda
Just dropping you a note to say I have made over 3 dozen of these darling angels and they are so very beautiful. I hope my Staff and family enjoy them as many are for gifts. Thanks so much for sharing. They are soooo beautiful!
glenda
These are lovely! Thank you for sharing.
thank you so much for sharing this idea of vintage paper with angels on them. I just love angels, I will make these for my Christmas tree this year, one I bought, and it’s just branches with mini lights on it, and I ‘d like to try to make them sparkling with glitter glue maybe. If you have an idea for me, let me know. Thanks again. Noella.
These are so cute. THANK YOU for sharing.
So beautiful. I just picked up my live Holiday Tree from Home Depot this afternoon. I want to decorate it in vintage ornaments. These angels are just the greatest start. Thank you so much!
Blessings,
Robin
hi am in the middle of making these but what size of paper did you use for the fan part ? many thanks
Hi Aileen, I used old books and tore out and used the full width of the page. Hope this helps 🙂
These are so cute; I immediately ran off copies so I won’t forget to try them; always on the lookout for great ideas. Will sign up for you blog as some Aussy ideas might just be what I need!!!
I adore your Victorian Angels! Please let me know if you have any purchase. Thank you.
Thank you so very much for this cute idea and the printables.
Wonderful!! I love it!! Thank you for this cute idea and the printables angels!!
These are beautiful! I think I will make some this year to use as ornaments at home and gift toppers. Going to go back to my local library’s sale to find some old worn out books with pages good enough to use for this project! Will post on social media! Thanks for the tutorial!
That sounds lovely Nadia. I always grab old books when I see them. They add such charm to vintage crafts. I hope you enjoy this project 🙂
TFS this project with us. Every Christmas, I have a tree with just my handmade ornaments and tell my family to get one for their tree. I put the year and sign it on the back. Again, thanks so much for sharing your creativity with us!
Love this angel.. Would love to make some for our Church’s boutique. Would you give permission for that. Thank you for the wonderful directions for this beautiful angel.
I can’t get the paper to open all the way around to the full circle….the paper tears and the centre bulks up to prevent it! What am I doing wrong please?
Oh goodness, maybe the paper is not big enough Gail. Perhaps try a bigger piece or make two and join them together. Hope that works 🙂