The Christmas tree is up, and if there’s one classic ornament almost every tree needs, it’s the Christmas angel. Delicate and a little bit whimsical, these angel ornaments are easy to put together to create that ethereal touch you’ve been looking for. They’re easily constructed with just a mini ornament and your lace pieces.

To construct your lace angel, you’ll need:

• Your lace pieces from the Angel from Above design, stitched in 100% cotton thread (see these instructions on how to stitch freestanding lace embroidery designs)
• Hot glue
• Hand-sewing needle and thread
• 1" diameter ornament for the head

There are two versions of the angel design available. The larger is 3.98" x 4.96" for the largest lace piece and has a finished wingspan of about 7.5", and the body embroiders as one piece.

The other is 3.11" x 3.86" for the largest lace piece and has a finished wingspan of about 6", and the body embroiders in two pieces. If you're using this version, you’ll need to stitch the two body pieces together, like so. A quick zigzag stitch on your sewing machine should do the trick pretty well.

Once your body is all in one long piece, you’ll want to wrap it around in a cone shape, so the edges overlap a bit at the front. This will make our angel body.

With the pieces overlapped, add a few stitches with your needle and thread to keep the lace in your curved cone shape.

This is what your angel body should look like stitched together.

You could also use hot glue for this, but I find the glue is a bit more obvious when used in the more delicate areas of lace.

Now for the wings! Each one should attach at the back, right in the middle (or on the smaller size, where the seam is).

For this part, you can use a needle and thread, or hot glue works pretty well for this part too.

And now we have... a really creepy headless angel!

OK, not quite what the holidays usually call for, but it’s a work in progress. If you were feeling a little offbeat this holiday season, I suppose you could leave it like this and concern your family a bit when they come over for the holidays.

If you DON’T feel like weirding out your family...

Add a line of hot glue all around the top rim of your angel body.

While the glue is still hot, carefully place your ornament on top, with the hanger facing upwards. If you think it needs it, add a little extra glue around the edges to make sure the ornament holds.

Want to use it as a tree topper? No problem. Just place the ornament hanger side down, hidden inside the body. Then the angel can just sit on top of your tree without the hanger.

Once your glue is totally dry, it’s ready to add a loop for hanging, and the glue will support the light weight of the lace.

Your angel is ready to adorn your tree!

You can add ribbons around the neck, jewels, or even dye the cotton lace. Try putting one of the Christmas lights inside the lace, to see your angel shine from within. The delicate nature of the lace will ensure those bright Christmas lights on the tree glitter brightly through. Light up the night with a lace angel!