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Finished vintage inspired, cone angel figures.
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Tiny cone figures were frequently produced by mass industry at the end
of the 1940s, primarily by the Japanese or in Germany for the North
American market place. Catalogue companies like: J. C. Penny, Wards and Sears sold cone figures by the thousands through the mail, while five-and-dime stores like Woolworth's
and made small fortunes by supplying the same kinds of factory made,
inexpensive holiday ornaments directly from store displays and shelves.
My vintage inspired angels are made the old-fashioned way, by hand. Factory made ornaments became popular after the first and second World Wars. Prior to that time, most ornaments were either made at home or supplied by various cottage industries throughout Western Europe and The United States, wherever Christmas trees were most popular. I've posted some examples of these manufactured angles below.
To make cone shaped angels, your will need the following supplies: cotton batting balls (for heads), decorative papers (tiny Christmas designs), scrap cardboard, trim for bottom of skirts (lace and rick-rack), acrylic paints for heads and arms, thin wire for arms, tiny novelties for angels to hold (see pictures), white glue and hot glue.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Roll heads from cotton batting and white glue.
- Cut out skirts
from patterned Christmas papers.
- Shape and paste the paper skirts
into cones.
- Glue the head on top.
- Stuff the cone shaped skirts with
acrylic batting.
- Glue a cardboard disk to the bottom of the cones.
- Glue the pom pom features to the top of the head(s), one or two.
- Wrap the string around the pom poms and above the forehead areas to make the hair design.
- Cut the wings from decorative papers and glue these on.
- Wrap cotton batting around thin wire and let dry.
- Cut small pieces of that wire for arms and attach these with hot glue.
- Hot glue tiny gifts for angels to carry: holly and berries, bows for presents, snowflakes, bottle brush trees etc...
- Smear on touches of white glue and sprinkle angle wings with glitter.
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| Left, roll heads from cotton batting and white glue. Center, cut out skirts from patterned Christmas papers. Right, shape and paste the paper skirts into cones, glue the head on top. I stuff the cone shaped skirts with acrylic batting and glue a cardboard disk to the bottom of the cones. |
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Left, tiny cone angels hold: holly, bow and snowflake. Center several have bottle brush
trees. Right, one has wings cut from a doily... and many have transparent glitter stuck
to their wings. |
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| Left, my tiny vintage cone angel ornaments. I hang these on my feather tree every Christmas. Right, old catalogue page shown. Elf-like figures. Pine-cone dwarfs, Santas, angels, snowmen. Cotton felt. Stand or hang from tree. Set of 15. From Japan. Shipping weight 12 oz. | | |
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| Close up of a tiny vintage cone angle from the 1960s. This tiny angel has a metallic paper skirt and embossed gold wings. She carries two candles in her small chenille stem armature. Her head is made from cotton batting. She has a beaded collar and hair made from tinsel. |
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| Close up of a tiny pink vintage cone angel from the 1960s. Her dress is made from painted pink cardboard sprinkled with silver glitter. She has white chenille stem arms and holds a tiny sprig of green to represent a tree. Her wings are embossed and pink, her head is a cotton batting ball and her yellow hair is made from a silky strand of yarn. |
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Left, are miniature angels with tulle skirts playing harps. Right the very same hold lights, seen in catalogue.
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| Pattern for making a cone angel and one version of wings. |
More Examples of Vintage Figures from The 1960s:
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