How to Make a Book Angel
I saw a book angel at a craft show some years ago, and I filed the idea away in the back of my mind for a some day project.
I thought it should be pretty easy to figure out how to make one.
Well, that some day finally arrived when I found this book at the thrift store for $1.
It’s called Bread for the Journey, A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith.
After years of not thinking about it this book immediately put the book angel idea back into the front of my mind, and when something like that happens I take it as a sign.
This book was meant to be my book angel.
The book angels I saw at the craft show were made with music hymnals, which I would love to do, but I’ve never found a used hymnal book to use. That’s probably why it took me so long to get around to doing this project.
The first thing to do is to remove the dust jacket from the hard cover book. This book had about 200 pages (400 numbered pages).
Fold the back 25 pages (50 numbered pages) from the bottom corner up into the spine of the book. This is the right angel wing.
Fold the front 25 pages (50 numbered pages) from the bottom corner up into the spine of the book. This makes the left angel wing. (You’ll notice that I did the first few pages wrong, but it was an easy fix.)
Fold all the remaining pages towards the back of the book from the top corner down into the spine. This makes the dress of the angel.
I should mention that it was at this point when I decided that 25 pages (50 numbered pages) was the right amount to make the front and back wings. I had originally used 40 pages (80 numbered pages) for each of the wings, which turned out to be too many as the wings were too thick. Â All I had to do to correct this was unfold 15 front and back wing pages and refold them as skirt pages.
OK… so making this book angel wasn’t quite as easy as I thought. lol. Thankfully the fix was an easy one. Using about 1/4 of the total pages for the wings and the rest for the dress worked much better.
When all pages are folded it should look something like the above. I love how the text makes the pattern on her dress.
I was so pleased when the front wing ended up on the page entitled Be Yourself, and I only used 24 pages for the back wing because I thought the page entitled Spiritual Bodies was too appropriate not to use. You can’t tell that there’s 1 page difference between the two wings.
When folding the pages, whether for the wings or the dress, try to make them as even with each other as you can. They don’t have to match perfectly, but pretty close would be good.
Take a pencil and mark the shape of the angel wings on both sides of the inside book cover and fill those spaces in with a black Sharpie.
This step is totally a personal choice. The ones I saw at the craft show didn’t do this.
I like the black because it gives the wings much more definition. I also coloured all the edges of the book cover black as well.
I didn’t have a wooden bead big enough for the head so I used a styrofoam ball from my stash. I painted it with a flesh colour craft paint, but it looked too orange to me.
You could also use a Christmas ornament, but in my house of 4 cats it would have to be a plastic one for sure.
So I decided to cover it with a piece of a nylon stocking. I just tied a knot at the bottom of the ball.
I had some curly hair in my craft stash so I added that with my glue gun. Spanish moss would make nice hair too, for a more rustic look, but I didn’t have any.
Then I glued the head in place with the excess nylon being glued to the back of the book. I prefer to not give angels facial features, but they certainly can be added.
Then I went into my stash to see what I could find to doll her up a bit. This is where you can have some fun and use whatever you like.
I added three layers of a white lace ribbon, a gold ribbon bow, and a sweet little red rose. Her halo is made from a string of small white beads. The lace is glued to the edges of the book spine not to the pages.
And that’s it. She’s all done. The finished size will depend on the book size. My angel is about 8″ tall and 12″ wide.
This was such a fun project. I still hope to find a used hymnal one of these days, and when I do I’ll make her a friend.
Thanks so much for reading, and until next time…
keep on keepin’ on!
XOX
Don’t forget to pin it!
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I HAD to Pin this! I have never seen a book angel before. A very creative idea and so cute!
Your book angel is totally adorable and I've never seen one before, either! Well done, Tuula!!! It seems so appropriate for you to make this using a book on wisdom and faith, lace ribbon and white beads . . . very vintage!
I never saw one before either. Very cute!
We made these from Reader's Digest magazines when I was a kid…two put together made a tree.
One of my fav decorations to make as a child. 🙂
Hi Tuula! Your book angel turned out beautifully! I made one two years ago and had a lovely time making it. I love your addition of the curly hair and lace 🙂
Hugs to you!
So darling! I'm making one! TFS
Thanks Oliva! I'm sure you'll enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine. There's just something about angels, isn't there? Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.
Oh my goodness, that is just the sweetest angel. I have never seen anything like it, but of course, now I want one!! 🙂 Pinning for my own "someday"! Thanks!
Now…that is adorable! I just love your angel. So creative! I have never seen one. I have seen trees made out of books, but this takes the cake…:)
Blessings, Vicky
You did a lovely job on your angel. I really like the contrast of the black with the angel wings, great idea. Love the addition of curly hair and the lace collar, just adorable!
This is cute. A great way to upcycle. I love the wings.
Thanks Heather! I have to admit that I'm always a little hesitant to reuse books in projects because I'm a big book lover, but this book seemed perfect for this angel. Making it didn't hurt a bit. lol.
My sisters bought me an angel book a few years ago and I always get it out at Christmas and get sweet compliments on her
your looks a twin to my book, my book is an old hymnal song book
This is amazing!!! I would love to make one of these for my mom for Christmas! Shhh…don't tell her! (Now I'd better do it!!!) OH! And one for my daughter too!! I love this!
-andi
Look at you! I have never seen one of these Tuula! I LOVE it! So pretty! I'm going to have to try this!
Such a pretty idea, I have only seen one once before but I couldn't figure out how the heck they did it, beautiful.
So pretty! Love it! Thanks for sharing! Love ya' Patricia B
Thanks Patricia! I have to say that I love my angel. I hope you give it a try. Thanks so much for stopping by.
My cousin made me a hymnal angel for Christmas one year and I still treasure it. Love the way yours turned out and the perfect choice of book for an angel.
This turned out so cute Tuula! And you found the perfect book. thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
I want to try this! What a fun idea and a great tutorial.
Super cute project! Lovely idea! Thanks for sharing!
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Hugs from Portugal,
Ana Love Craft
http://www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com
Than you so much Ana! I hope you have a wonderful week too!
Amazing projext! (from make it Monday link party)
Thanks so much Despina. I really enjoyed making my angel. I'm sure I'll be making many more in the future.
This is a great twist on all of the book projects out there in the Pinterest world! First angel I've seen!! Love the project 🙂
Lindi @ http://www.lovecreatecelebrate.com
Thanks Lindi! When I saw them years ago at the craft show I thought they would be much more difficult to make, but once I figured out how many pages to use for the wings and the dress it really is quite easy.
I am so glad the book angel made an appearance at Make It Monday.
very sweet!
I've never seen one of these before. How cute!
Thanks so much Christie! Once I figured out the wind to dress page ratio it was rather easy too.
This is so cool! Thanks for the tutorial. I'm pinning it to make soon!!!
This is just to sweet not to try! Thanks for the tutorial.
Hello, Thank you for this cute idea, my Grandmother use to make them! I am going to make myself one here this Christmas! I enjoyed this post very much!
Blessings, Roxy
Hi there, I hopped over from Junkin' Joe! I am currently working on a hymnal angel I found at a thrift store–she was in desperate need of a makeover, lol! Yours turned out so cute and great tutorial! Blessings, Cecilia
That is beautiful and my 'project for this week'… hmmmmn that sounds like it could be a regular blog feature for me.
Thanks Cherie! That's so sweet of you. I'm so glad that my book angel project has inspired you.
Thank you illustrating was easy to follow. love it.
Thanks Brenda! I’m so glad. 🙂
I love the angel and it looks so easy to make, I think I will make one myself. You have such nice ideas. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks June! I love that you’re going to make one. 🙂
Hi Tuula,
I love your Angel. I have made several Hymnal Angels. Wish I could attach a picture of one to show you how I made mine.
Luckily my church had older used Hymnals they weren’t using anymore and I chose the best ones (You can find them on eBay also). I used a wooden spoon for the head by gluing it to the inside of the spine. I folded all the pages and in place of the wings as you did, I photo copied favorite hymns and glued them to the front inside and back inside to act as wings. I also created arms with hands for them and purchased miniature Hymnals to glue to the hands. I chose to create a face by using flat rhinestones for the eyes and mouth. Curly hair was used as you did. For their halo’s I found circle gold pins and glued that to the hair. I used red lip cord trim to decorate the outside edges of the hymnal on the top and the sides. As you also did, I used layered lace trim around the collar and around the front and added a bow. I also added small flowers to the hands along with the Hymnal. They all turned out lovely. I hope this gives you new ideas on how to make another Hymnal Angel. Thank you for sharing your version. Stay safe.
Thanks Sherry! Book angels are such fun to make. Thanks for the great suggestions. 🙂