Make me! Affirmation angels

Or, New Year, new you!

 

Be the person you'd want to meet.

As this post is made, it’s New Year’s Day today.  Despite what may have been, this day has a special resonance for most; it's a re-set, a new start, another chance to make good, be good, do good.

There are a million (literally more no doubt) affirmations that can be found on the Internet.  I most prefer the ones that use words like precious jewels.  An affirmation made up of a few well-chosen words, one that is easy to remember, so that it is swift to read and easy to internalise.

Here’s my pick for my daily affirmation for 2014.

Be the person you’d want to meet.

This Affirmation Angel project is based on the Kewpie Doll Angel project of December 2013 (click here to take you to the instructions) with the only changes being:

• Her wings are made from magenta coloured feathers.  (If you can’t find the pink feathers you want, dye them using food colouring and vinegar, see the end of this post).
• She has a scrap strip of pale pink silk wrapped around her body as a ‘slip’.
• The tulle is the stiff tulle, not the drapey sort.
• She has a hook glued at the back of her head to hang her from the wall.
• She has a printed affirmation glued to her hands (11point, Palatino).

Make a loop from wire and glue the twisted end to the back of the angel's head.  Paint the glue splodge gold.

Once the glue has cooled, bend the loop downwards.  Use removable plastic hooks to hang the angel.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   * 

Your bespoke Affirmation Angel

will of course; 

• be holding your personal choice of phrase,

• can be any colour (dye the feathers, oh, the possibilities),

• and can be hung anywhere you need a sweet reminder of what’s important to you.

I have hung my angel on my closet door above my drawers where I keep my lingerie and jewellery and stockings.  She will be seen several times a day as I dress in the morning, and as I prepare for sleep at night.

You could make one for yourself, and while you’re in the groove, perhaps consider making one for a special friend!

Best wishes for the New Year.

Lara-Jane.

Here she is, my friendly reminder to stay the course.

You can make them; Magenta feathers.  Here's how:

Following are some photographs that show how to dye feathers using food colouring.

Read each caption for tips.

I couldn't source separate feathers so resorted to deconstructing a feather boa.  Don't cut the feathers off the string, twist the string a little and then pull each feather gently and they will release.

I figured this would be a sufficient amount of feathers for 3 or 4 sets of wings.

 An entire bottle was used in this project (perhaps you might use less if you wanted a paler colour).

I  dissolved the contents of the pink food colouring, a splash or two of white vinegar and hot water and then submerged the feathers into the liquid using tongs.

After an hour or so soaking in the 'dye', tongs were used to lift the feathers into a lingerie or garment laundry bag.  The bag was zipped closed and rinsed several times until the water was clear (this is near the end of the rinsing).

The garment bag was placed in the washing machine on the spin cycle and pegged out in the hot wind to dry.

Amazing how robust the feathers are, they are doubling in volume or so it seems.

Almost dry.  I hurried them along by tossing the garment bag in the dryer for ten or so minutes.

After the dryer treatment... a bag of fluffy magenta feathers.

Success! Marvellous magenta!