Button Angels

To go with the Baby Jesus ornament I came up with these Button Angels for my students to make this year...

They are really very simple: 

Use fine gauge brass wire - found in the jewelry making section of the craft store.

White buttons and a gold or silver button.

A pearl bead

Glitter bows or white feathers or whatever you want for the wings.

Bend the wire in half and thread each end through two holes in each button, starting with the largest and going to the smallest. 

Next join the two wires together and thread them both through the pearl.

Separate them again and thread the wires through the gold or silver button.  Tie a knot with the wire at the top of the gold or silver button.  Then tie another knot at the top of the loop to make a hanger for the angel.

Tiny glitter bows make great angel wings and the little twist tie attached can be used for arms.  I twisted the twist tie to the angel body right below the head.  Then I shaped the arms.

You can draw a face on with a sharpie or leave it to the imagination.

Have fun!

Baby Jesus in a Manger Ornament

This Baby Jesus ornament is very easy to make!  

I borrowed the manger idea from another post on Pinterest, drew up a template and printed it onto kraft paper cardstock.  There is no glueing involved - I pre-cut the slits in the paper with an X-Acto knife before the kids cut out the manger pieces.


To make the manger just cut out the three pieces and insert the manger ends into the slits in the manger - which is folded in half.  See photo.

The Baby is made out of a 3/4 wooden ball for the head.  I used a gold Sharpie Paint pen.  A regular Sharpie didn't make a sharp line - it was fuzzy.  I used a little pink blush on a Q-Tip for the cheeks.

Cut a square of sparkly felt about the same size as the manger - 4X4. Fold it like you wrap a baby and glue it with the hot glue gun.  Put a little bit of tissue into the felt to make it look full.

I put a drop of hot glue behind the head and attached the halo - (Gold rings can usually be found in the wedding supplies aisle of the craft store).

Next glue the head into the felt, make sure it is tucked in nice and cozy up to the chin.

If you want to, glue a button onto the baby blanket.

Using raffia or packing straw place a little bit of straw into the manger.

You can glue the straw and the baby in - or just leave it loose.

If you want to hang it up punch a hole in opposite corners and thread some string under the manger.  Tie a knot in the top with a star in the middle.

With the addition of each child's personality and creativity these ornaments will become treasures for years to come!

Christmas Countdown

I came up with this countdown calendar for my students to make during Art After School...

It's really very simple:

Supplies:

Large white plastic or heavy paper plates
Starlight mint candies
Orange, Green and Black cardstock
Black buttons
An orange or gold brad
Hot glue gun
Sharpie permanent markers

Begin by cutting out a carrot shaped nose (kids can use templates or draw their own) that fits inside the paper plate so that it can be turned to each number until Christmas.

Punch a hole in the plate right in the center - I just use a small nail to do this.  Punch a hole in the carrot nose.  Fasten a brad through the nose and the plate.

Now put your buttons on for the eyes and the mouth, play around if you want to get the expression you like.

Glue the mouth and eyes.

Cut out the holly leaves out of green cardstock and the hat out of black - again using patterns or letting them do it themselves.  These will be hot glued onto the plate - it needs to be strong to hang it up later.

Give each student 26 mints and a marker.  Have them write the numbers 1 through 25 on each mint.

Older students can glue their own mints on with the glue gun - being careful to begin below the eyes and finish below the eyes.  Younger students can bring them to you to be glued.

The last step is to punch holes in the hat for a string hanger.

They can eat a mint each day until Christmas - or leave them on for decoration and just move the nose.  Either way it's a fun way to see how many days until the big day!