Wool Angel

Can you believe I've been waiting to share this with you since March (*smile*)! Didn't seem quite right to post it in the spring, so I decided to wait for Christmas. This project was actually what inspired me to experiment with wool. (See my Felting Fun category for my other felting projects) On my post in February, I mentioned there was a story as to how needlefelting caught my attention. Well, sit back and grab a cuppa and I'll fill ya in on the details!

It all began when I was putting our ornaments away in January 2008. I had put a bunch of them on a table so I could box them up later. Now normally my dog doesn't mess with things... But of course, it was at that time that he decided to be naughty when I wasn't looking and chewed apart one of my favorite ornaments - a handmade wool angel that my mom bought at a craft show years ago. I suppose it seemed like a soft fluffy chew toy to him, so I shouldn't be surprised. Anyway, I paid little attention to the construction of it as I was throwing it away because it was clear that there was no way I could repair it. But I was curious to see if something similar existed that I could buy as a replacement, so eventually I did a little investigating online. Didn't find anything similar but some handmade wool dolls that were made by needlefelting. Hmmm - I had not heard of needlefelting before... this I must research more... if I can't buy one maybe I can *make* one! Needless to say, I figured out what it would take to make my own replacement and added a few items to my 2008 Christmas list so I could learn this new skill. I was so excited when I achieved it! My mom actually still has one of the original wool angels, so I was able to carefully inspect hers to see how it was made - which definitely helped. Thank goodness she bought one for herself too! Below is a photo of her original so you can compare them. I made a few changes on mine above - nicer ribbon (A Muse of course) and a wool wreath instead of the artificial pine. How did I do?