Make Your Own Wings And Fly…

It’s Tattered Angels Wednesday, which means it’s time for another wing-themed project.

Today we have for you Kimberly who decided to do some recycling and pulled out all her old cardboard boxes, cut the into pieces and turned them into a magnificent pair of angel wings – all that with some help of joint compound, Tattered Angels DIY paint and … loads of patience. Let’s take a closer look…

‘This has to be one of my most favorite and loved creative projects I have ever made. I can’t remember where I first saw a post about making paper mache wings , but I fell in love with them and the idea , so I went and pulled out some old cardboard boxes and started working. You can make your wings as big or as small as you wish. I took the bigest box I could find so that I could cut my base for the wings to be approx. 3.5 feet tall and 23 inches wide. I also wanted a heart in the middle so when I made my base I took a heart box and used it to trace the inner part of my wings; this way, when I put them together they show a heart.’ – explains Kimberly.  

Materials used:
Tattered Angels Decor&DIY paint – Hazel and Sable
5-6 cardboard boxed
joint compound

Tools used:
pencil and scissors/craft knife to prepare and cut the template and elements
palette knife
brushes
something to cover your working area with and gloves to protect your hands (it is a messy project)To start, you need to prepare a template: draw 2 angel bases onto heavy sturdy (with no folds) cardboard and cut them out. Next, draw tear drop shape template for the wing feathers and one template for the longer feathers – you will need over 50 tear drop ones and about 16 of the long ones for each wing. You will need to trace them on the cardboard and cut out – this will take a while and your hands will probably get really tired. Once that’s done, you’re ready to put wings together. 

Now it’s time to assemble the feathers. I like mine 3d rather than flat but it is entirely up to you how you want them. Start from the bottom layer of the longer wings and keep building up by glueing them down. Don’t worry if you have a little gap here and there – you’re going to cover the whole wing with joint compound after you glue down all the feathers; this will mask any empty spots and spaces. 

So your wings are put together… now aren’t they fun and cute? Now warning – the next stage can be really messy! Cover your workspace with a drape cloth or something else to protect the table and put on some gloves. It’s time to start covering the wings with joint compound. ‘I bought mine at Walmart in the home repair department area I paid 4 bucks for a huge bucket’ (says Kimberly) You might be tempted to add color to the compound; you probably could but you don’t want it too watery or wet – remember that you have cardboard that’s going to absorb the wetness . Once you have covered the wings with the compound, leave them to dry completely – it will take a few days so be patient. 

Now the wings are dry, let’s paint them using Tattered Angels DIY paints. First, cover each wing with your base over all color (Hazel), then, once dry, used the accent color (Sable) and dry-brush it on to create effect of depth and shading.

Your angel wings home decor is ready! Although time-consuming, it is definitely worth all the effort as the final outcome is outstanding! Every ‘tattered angel’ would be more than proud to have these on display in their studio!

We hope you will join us in crafty adventures and share your projects in the CCB Collective on Facebook.

Happy crafting!

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