“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” ~ Colossians 3:16-17
A friend of mine asked me for the directions to make a tabletop angel from an old hymnal a few days ago. As I looked through my files I couldn’t help but remember all of the angels God has placed in my life. Some of them entered my life for just a moment, to offer me a word of encouragement or a helping hand. Some of them have become a part of my life for a season and have guided me in my dark moments or given me a needed shove to keep me on the right path. Others are in my life for a lifetime to remind me of all the blessings God has provided for me and to help sustain me in my journey. I am so grateful for every one of them. I hope you can also think of one or two angels that you have been blessed to entertain on your journey!
Materials needed: Old Hymnal, Styrofoam ball (for head), Gold craft paint (optional), white craft glue, thin wooden dowel approx. 12 inches long (a shish-kabob skewer works well), a 12 inch pipe cleaner (gold or silver), coordinating craft paint
Instructions: Before you start making the hymnbook angel, find a song that you would like to use to cover the angel’s head. Put this aside until later.
Next, begin folding each page, starting in the middle of the hymn book, one by one, from the top corner of the page to the center to make the skirt for the hymnbook angel. continue doing this until you have folded approx. 1/4 of the pages from the back forward, and 1/4 of the pages from the front backward. You should end up with 1/2 of the hymn book folded in the center so it looks as if you have a skirt when the book is open.
After you have finished with the folding, put the book aside and take the page you removed, dip it in warm water, then wrap it around the Styrofoam ball being sure to smooth the folds and overlap the edges. You can insert the dowel into the ball now and stand upright to dry. (This takes approx. 6 – 8 hours)
Go back to the book and stand it up in the shape you would like it to have. Using a thinned out mixture of the white craft glue and water, brush the pages LIGHTLY so they are wet but not soaked through. Set aside to dry.
After everything has dried you can decorate the angel with a light brushing of the craft paint on the paper edges or the spine and book edges. This will give it a gilded effect. When the paint is dry (takes only a few minutes) assemble your angel by placing the dowel into the spine of the hymnal with the head now attached. Finally, attach the pipe cleaner as a halo on top of the head with some additional craft glue or hot glue.
You can also add lace, pearl beads, or other decorations to make your angel unique and give it personality!
If you’ve read this far ~ please add a comment to my blog!
May you be blessed to entertain your unique angels this year!
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Walking in the Wilderness 
Our Church is having a craft show this Christmas season and a friend on mine has a hymnal angel so I had suggested that we take our old hymnals heading for the trash and make these for our craft show…I made one as a test model and the only thing I’m stuck at is the hair…what to do that is simple but nice…any suggestions?
Use the curly hair that can be found at most craft stores in packages, cut it as you need, then simply hot glue. Or, use one page from the hymnal, soak it in water for a few minutes then wrap it around the styrofoam head. Use mod podge to “glue” it on. Looks great!
i LOVE this idea for a childrens sunday school class craft idea…..LOVELY!! thank you so much.
So glad you enjoyed!
You can also use old, colored children’s books and scrap ribbon, buttons, etc to decorate the “angels”!
I have also seen these angels made with little miniature Bibles about4 or 5 inches tall that have gold edged pages. They are cute too and a great sunday school project and gift. We gave each of the residents of a personal care home an angel and they loved them.
I would really like to purchase one of these for my mother-in-law for Christmas. Please tell me if you know anyone who makes these.
I’m not aware of anyone that makes and sells these. As you can tell, they are very simple to make ~ I am sure you could do one yourself! Check a used book store for the perfect hymnal.
It will make it a much treasured gift if she knows it is made by you!
Seems a sin to throw away or tear up hymnals, but better to use them for something than to just toss.
I remember making choir singers from readers digests in the ’70s,this is so cute. I just threw out some old hymn books when we moved.I wish i had kept them now.I will make one of these next year.