Easy Holiday Craft for Kids

Kat and I made these angels based on this idea from Jenn at Frugal Upstate.

We had trouble finding beads we liked that also had holes big enough to thread over ribbon, so we opted for wooden beads painted with craft paint. If you have trouble finding wooden beads, look in the wood crafts department of your craft store instead of the bead department. That's where we found these.

We started with the following items:


5/8" wooden beads
3/4" wooden wheels
Silver and gold acrylic craft paints
1/8" Christmas ribbon in red and white
A needle threader (optional)
"Ideal" paper clips (we found ours at Office Depot)

We made this a two day project, but older kids could probably finish the angels in a single day. First we painted the beads and wheels, half of them silver, the other half gold. We let them dry overnight.


Next we cut ribbon into 14-inch lengths. I folded them in half...

and inserted the loop into the paper clip as shown,

then threaded the free ends through the loop.


Tying the ribbon on this way keeps it from sliding up the "wings" of the paper clip.

Once threaded through the paper clip, I tied another knot in the thread.


This becomes a neck of sorts and will lift the bead up just enough that it will fit the paper clip better. This may not be necessary if you use smaller beads.

With Kat's help, we threaded a bead over the needle threader,

then inserted both free ends of ribbon through the threader.


Then we folded the ribbon back and slid the bead off the threader, creating the angel's head. We did the same with the painted wooden wheel, making the halo.


To keep the beads from sliding too much, I tied another knot close to the halo, and finally another knot near the ends of the ribbon.

Easy Peasy! An angel to use as an ornament on a tree or window, or to use as a gift tag. Or use more ribbon for each angel and make necklaces like Jenn did. These will be Kat's gifts to all of her great-grandparents and to a few family friends, such as her former babysitter.