Monday, July 22, 2013

DIY Weeping Angel Tree Topper

Happy Christmas in July! Thanks to a nudge from a reader, I'm finally getting around to sharing how I made my Weeping Angel tree topper. It's not a true replica of the sinister statues from Doctor Who, but there's no question what it is...

DIY - How to make a Weeping Angel tree topper
I've wanted a Weeping Angel statue ever since I first saw Blink. I'd really love a life size one made of stone for my front garden, but as that's not realistic, I decided to settle for a small one to put on top of our Christmas tree. Having neither the sculpting talent nor the desire to create one from scratch, I set out to repurpose a lovely (& inexpensive) non-threatening angel tree topper I bought from a department store.

DIY - How to make a Weeping Angel tree topper
You will need:
  • An angel tree topper. Make sure the arms and hands are poseable!  
  • Stone textured spray paint. I used 2 cans of Krylon Make It Stone!
  • Clear sealer. I used Krylon Make It Last Spray Sealer
  • Paper or drop sheet for spraying against - it's messy stuff!
  • A ventilated but not windy place to spray, and leave to dry for hours

Since it was actually nearing Christmas when I started my project, there were many angel tree toppers in the department store. I chose one of the plainest, since I'd be cutting all her ribbons and beads off anyways. I bought Krylon Make It Stone! Black Granite textured spray paint because that was the closest to gray the store had.


I also looked for an angel with sculpted rather than real hair, thinking it might be easier to cover with the spray. And I tried to find one with solid wings but they were all feathered. Solid would have made much less mess - when I cut that fluff off it flew everywhere! Like the down of a thistle ;)

 

STEP 1: Remove and cut off all the angel's embellishments, including tinsel & wing fluff. Trim the dress sleeves to the shoulders if possible. 

Poor trimmed angel. I bent her arms into the weeping position.


STEP 2: Place trimmed angel on covered work surface and follow paint directions to give it a light even coating of textured paint. I used my driveway covered with paper, but underestimated how far the mist would fly, and now have a lighter stone outline of the paper. I'm sure it will fade eventually...


I realized I'd need to bend the angel's arms back out to be able to paint them. So... 
Step 3. Give arms an all-over coat before carefully bending them into "weeping" position while paint is still tacky. Continue spraying until completely covered.


Step 4: Allow to dry in a well-ventilated but not windy place, for about 4 hours. I set mine on my covered porch. 

Step 5. Once the paint has dried, trim any straggly feathers from the wings. Give it another coat and allow to dry another 4 hours.


Step 6. Set angel atop something to allow you to spray right to the bottom and in the folds of the skirt. I used an empty coffee can. Give it another good layer of spray paint and allow to dry. Continue until you are happy with the coverage.


Step 7: After the final coat has dried, give it a light coating of clear sealer if you wish.


All done! Now don't take your eyes off it!

      

Click the pic to see how my Angel looked atop my Doctor Who Christmas Tree:

Doctor Who Christmas Tree

17 comments:

  1. So creative. I love your angel and the whole tree.

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  2. I LOVE it!!!! I now have something I can give my Whovian friends as Christmas gifts!

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  3. Perfect. So making one for our DW tree this year! Thanks from Texas.

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  4. Wow this is awesome, I have to make it now. My kids will freak out when they see it. Thanks for sharing it with us :-D

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  5. Thank you soo much for sharing i was going to try and build the doll thanks for the short cut

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  6. We are about to spray the stone color on our angel! Thanks so much!!!

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  7. LOVE LOVE!! Thank you so much. Must get an angel.

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  8. I"m going to make this for a friends Christmas present. Thanks for the fantastic idea!

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  9. Thank you so much!! Everyone is totally jealous:
    Weeping Angel

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  10. Mine is almost ready to spray the stone paint on- so excited! I found one with molded wings, too- bonus! Thank you so much for the tutorial- I'm totally sprung over this! :D

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  11. Love it! Thanks so much for sharing. I can't wait to start on mine =)

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  12. This is great! I'm having a hard time finding a Christmas Angel with posable arms, can you share where you got this one? I'd really appreciate it!

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    Replies
    1. I found one with wire armatures for arms at Micheal's, not necessarily posable, but it did the trick.

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    2. I got this one at the Navy Exchange. I also saw them at Kmart that year. I didn't even look this year though.

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  13. Saw this recently and made my own weeping angel tree topper. Came out great! Thanks so much for posting this...it was really helpful.

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