Advent Calendar Day 24

The pocket for Day 24 of my elder daughter's Advent Calendar contained the angel for the top of the Christmas tree. So the pocket picture of Father Christmas gave no clue.

Day 24 pocket

I made the angel from an old brown t-shirt, it has pipe cleaners in its arms and legs and between the head and body, so is somewhat posable. The dress is golden fabric (the same fabric I once used to make an ice skating dress for a Gotz doll) overlaid with tulle which is flecked with gold. The wings are made from short pieces of gold ribbon which came off crackers one year, I stitched them with golden thread onto a doubled over pipe cleaner.

The hair was black wool knitted, dampened, ironed then unravelled to make it wavy. The headband is a scrap of fabric left over from my wedding dress and both the Christening gowns of my daughters (which I made) plus some beads which came from an old hair tie my elder daughter used to wear. She recognised it immediately.

The angel Gabriel

The angel's face

Close up of the angel

The angel's wings

Back view of the angel's head

Back view of the angel

Back of the angel dress, showing the opened fastening

Back of the dress showing the wings stitched to the dress

Undressed angel, wearing the headband

She had guessed that the final pocket would contain something for the top of the tree, The package was too big to fit the pocket so was one of those which had a numbered card. She examined all the details of the angel then carefully placed it on the top of the tree.

The angel at the top of the tree

The tree was shared with her landlord and landlady, so also has some of their decorations on it, including the former Archbishops of York (++John Sentamu) and Canterbury (++Rowan Williams).

The angel at the top, above the choral scholar with the two archbishops

The fully decorated Christmas tree topped with the angel from day 24 pocket

So the Advent Calendar is empty and Christmas 2020 has arrived. This project, first planned in September 2020, has been a helpful way of getting our family through a prolonged separation in a year of turmoil and anxiety for many people whose lives have been changed and disrupted by the global pandemic. The planning and secret making of many new pleasant surprises has helped me and my younger daughter channel our anxieties and love into some tangible lasting gifts, while our nightly video calls to watch the next pocket gift be opened has helped all four of us connect, discuss, laugh, cry, and cherish our time together. 

Merry Christmas.