Christmas in January...Sweet Pasta Angel!

Can you believe Christmas was a month ago?!  Wow, that seemed to fly.  I don't know about you, but I seemed to find all sorts of wonderful and creative craft ideas in blogworld in the month of December!  In fact, it seemed the closer we got to Christmas, the more creative ideas I found.  There were sooooo many things I wanted to try...just simply not enough time.  Well, I may have come up with a plan...
I'm going to take some of those ideas I saw in December and create them all throughout the year.  My plan is to feature one every month on the 25th.  So while it might look a little strange to see ornaments in April, July or September, think of how many things you could have finished by Christmas!  What do you think?   
I want to start with a simple pasta angel.  I've seen many variations, but it's always the same basic idea.  Here are the materials I used:

In addition, you will need tacky glue and your embellishments of choice (hot glue helps, too).
Start with one of the wooden beads (I used 3/4").  Take your ribbon (I used narrow, wired silver).  Cut a piece approximately 5 inches lin length and fold it half.  Feed through the holes in the bead.  Tie a knot.  (This is your loop for hanging the ornament.)   

Feed the lower part of the knot down through a rigatoni noodle.  Run a bead of glue around one end and attach where head comes to rest. 

Now it's time for the bow tie pasta, oops...I mean wings!  Glue them onto the rigatoni, up near the angel's head.

Your angel needs some arms! You will need 2 pieces of macaroni.  Run a bead of glue along one side of each piece and affix them as indicated. 

Now, she'll need some hair.  I found this tiny little star pasta.  You could use rice, grits, cous-cous or any other very small pasta.  Pour a small amount into a shallow container.

Spread a layer of glue on the angel's head, in the approximate shape of her hairline (avoiding the hole on top of the bead where the loop will come through).  Affix pasta. 

By now, your angel should look something like this.  From here, there are all sorts of variations.  I've seen them painted gold, silver, soft white or not painted at all.  I've seen them with faces and without.  I've seen them holding stars, tiny silk rosebuds, tiny songbooks, and even an upside-down tack to simulate a candle! 

When trying to decide what to use for my angel, I ran across these in my button tin.  I thought...perfect!

Glue the embellishment of your choice in between the macaroni.

Oh, and one last thing...her halo!  (Found in the wedding section of the craft store.)   

There you have it!  This would be a really wonderful craft to do with older children. I'd love to hear if you give it a try.  Watch for the next ornament on February 25th! 

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