Crafter Turns A $5 Thrift Store Angel And A $3 Wire Basket Into A Santos Style Christmas Angel, Then Cuts A Finger On The Broken Glass Globe Of A Thrift Store Snowman

The challenge was simple. Viewers asked for high-end Christmas dupes, so the crafter behind @CanterburyCottage took ugly, outdated and even broken thrift store finds and tried to recreate pricey store decor for a fraction of the price. Her first project began with a $5 tree-topper angel and a $3 hanging wire basket, and her second one drew blood.

She says she has always loved traditional Santos angel figurines, especially those with an open ribbed base, but has not had much luck finding one at the thrift store. So she decided to build her own.

A $5 Tree Topper And A $3 Wire Basket Became A Santos Style Angel

She kept the grapevine on the basket and tightened the florist wire holding it in place. Using a Dremel, she cut off the metal ring at the top that was used for hanging.

Then she cut away most of the plastic cone under the angel’s dress, leaving a couple of inches at the top, and trimmed most of the stained dress. To attach the angel to the wire basket, she filled the remaining plastic cone with Gorilla Glue gel, inserted the top of the metal cone, and filled the gap with hot glue.

She tied the fabric belt into a bow and removed the bouquet and wreath, which were in poor shape. A new wreath came from a pipe-cleaner greenery stem shaped into a circle with a few metal stars. In place of flowers, she gave the angel a small Christmas tree in one hand and a miniature dove in the other.

Why She Dressed Up The Metal Cone

For a closer match to a true Santos angel, she says she would have left the metal cone bare. But her angel’s face and upper body did not suit that primitive style, so she embellished the cone with greenery, metal stars and pink berries that picked up the trim on the dress.

She hot glued moss around the top of the cone to soften the transition from skirt to metal, and tucked a folded strand of green ribbon under the wings. A little spray adhesive and fake snow gave a wintry touch, and she set the cone over a battery candle on a wood round.

Then A Broken Glass Globe Cut Her Finger

Next she wanted to recreate a high-end snowman with a little Christmas scene inside. The only thrift store snowman large enough had a broken glass globe and long skinny legs.

She cut through the solder on the legs with a Dremel and bent them until they popped off. When she took a closer look, she saw three small metal tabs holding the snowman’s upper body to the globe, so she straightened them with needle-nose pliers.

“I actually cut my finger on the broken glass,” she says, which told her she needed to cover the damaged spot before going further. She cut a piece of the plastic cone she had trimmed from the angel, tucked it under the metal ribs and snowflakes, and hot glued it in place.

New Slits, Branch Arms And A Mod Podge Snow Paste

She wanted the damaged spot at the back, but turning the globe that way made the tabs miss the slits in his shirt, so she cut three new slits. She replaced his arms with branches from a thrifted faux tree, drilling two holes a little larger, and wired his shortened broom to one.

The globe’s large opening turned out to be the perfect stage. She glued miniature ceramic trees and plastic reindeer to the glass with E6000, then mixed Mod Podge and baking soda into a thick snow paste and spread it inside, topped with white glitter. She used leftover paste to freshen the yellowed trim on his shirt and touched up old arm spots with green acrylic paint.

The snowman did not sit level, so she attached him to a wood base. She finished the rough glass opening with Mod Podge and glitter.

A $10 Wicker Basket Full Of Stems

At the back of a Goodwill, a large wicker basket full of Christmas stems caught her eye for only $10. She says the basket alone was worth more. She sorted the stems and decided the original arrangement looked off because it had too many kinds of stems.

She cut off the loose handle, set a thrifted lantern in the center, and used greenery and pine cones from a thrifted garland to make it look full. She added a red berry stem and a red velvet bow.

The red and white amaryllis from the basket went into a glass pedestal bowl, with berries, pine cones and greenery, plus a light dusting of snow.

A $3 Wooden Bird Lamp Became A Gold Deer Lamp

She planned to copy a Pottery Barn stag lamp, but liked a version on another retailer’s site better. Her starting point was a $3 wooden bird lamp. She removed the bird, cleaned the lamp and sprayed it with metallic gold paint.

A thrifted metal candle holder, flattened with a hammer and treated with antique gold rub and buff, became leaves behind the deer. She glued a gold bottle brush tree into the candle cup, covered an old shade with fabric scraps and added velvet ribbon.

$4 Hobby Lobby Sconce, A $3 Sled And A $2 Bell

A distressed green Hobby Lobby sconce at Goodwill cost $4. She painted it black, brushed on gold, and aged the mirror with a paint remover, sandpaper and bleach before painting the back dark brown.

A $3 sled, three Dollar Tree candle holders, thrifted greenery and votive cups at 99 cents each became a candlelit centerpiece. A $4 pedestal container and two $2 orbs became a topiary, and she says store versions can cost well over $100.

A $2 plastic bell got white chalk paint and was decoupaged with red and white napkins. She hung it inside a $4 lantern. A $1.99 gold frame got black wax and a Silent Night sheet-music print that cost $1.25 to print.

How To Copy The Look For Less

Repeat your stems. She says too many kinds of stems made the basket arrangement look off.
Use rub and buff. Antique gold rub and buff warmed up black paint, a deer figurine and a sconce.
Cover damage. A scrap of plastic cone hid broken glass on the snowman.
Save the extras. She kept decorations pulled off the sled for future projects.

Vinyl and Velvet