I altered a combination of tutorials to get our best tree topper yet: http://wich-crafts.blogspot.ca/2011/03/dont-blink.html and http://lilybet85.blogspot.com/2010/11/weeping-angel-christmas-tree-topper.html . Now, Let’s see if I can remember the process.
- Buy a doll with jointed elbows and wrists.
- Strip the doll down. If she has a ring, flip it to the inside or fill the ring hole with clay/hot glue/something else creative.
- Pull the doll’s hair into a low pony tail and cut it even with the chin.
- Remove the doll’s legs from the hip joints.
- Cut the top off of a slender water/soft drink bottle, just below the thick part of the spout.
- Stick the doll into the top of the bottle, trimming the bottle as necessary to get a natural curve.
- Use medical/duct tape to secure the doll in the bottle. I used strips in the the front and back for positioning, and then, I wrapped tape around the middle to secure the doll.
- Cut out the bottom of the bottle. I used a centerpiece weight to keep the doll upright for the rest of the process.
- Make a sheath dress/t-tunic (http://www.amtgard-wl.com/library/howtos/how2tunic.pdf) out of enough cotton gauze to cover the whole piece, plus an inch.
- Using a small hair tie, bunch the dress up at the waist.
- Comb Elmer’s glue through the doll’s hair. I used a teething wand/gum massager, but a doll’s comb should do the same thing. You’ll want to saturate the hair with glue to make sure that it retains the ridges and picks up the paint down to the scalp.
- Before the hair completely hardens, put another small hair tie behind the hairline (like a headband) and smooth more glue over the whole head with your finger.
- Using a paint brush or your finger, saturate the the dress draping at the waistline to make it retain shape before painting.
- Let all of the glue dry, probably overnight.
- Bend the doll’s arms and hands up to Weeping Angel position. Put a dab of hot glue in the elbow joints one at a time, holding them bent until they dry completely. If the glue isn’t smooth when it dries, you can snip it with scissors.
- For the hands-to-face connection, I used hot glue, but it didn’t stay. I put super glue on the dried hot glue, and that stuck to the face just fine.
- Make wings out of craft foam. You can build up wing details with smaller pieces of craft foam and/or hot glue, and you can emboss the foam with a ball point pen or stylus
- Attach the wings to the doll’s back with a combination of hot glue and duct tape.
- Spray the whole piece with primer, making sure to get it from all angles.
- This is a good time to remove any errant bits of glue, hair, and thread.
- Do a second coat of primer.
- Spray the whole piece with your preferred paint. I used textured metallic silver because it was the only option at the time, but I do like it for the holidays.
- Do a second coat.
- Spray the whole piece with matte clear coat. The clear coat did bring down the glitter in my silver a little, which was ideal.
- Place on tree (or shelf) and enjoy!
Green Linen Shirt 