Angel Crafts Archives - How To Make a Pottery Angel Windbell


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How to make a Pottery Angel Windbell from Angel Crafts Projects Archives - How to Windbell - Leave the string loose enough so when the wind hits it, the arms and hands will clang against the bell.


    How to make a Pottery Angel Windbell



    To make a pottery angel windbell, throw or handbuild a cone for the bottom of the angel. Make a ball for the size of the head. Score and slip it to the cone.
    Make wings, score and slip them to the back of the angel.
    Make arms and hands as one unit.
    These can be scored and slipped to the body, or they can be attached after the angel is fired as part of the bell.

    If you want them as part of the sound, put holes in the top of the shoulders
    and put corresponding holes in the top of the cone, where you will attach
    the arms to the cone shape body by stringing them together from left to right
    or right to left.
    Leave the string loose enough so when the wind hits it, the arms and hands will clang against the bell (cone.). Make the feet and legs in one unit.
    They will be the clanger for the inside of the bell. (They could also be made
    separately. If you do so, and if each leg/foot combination will be
    free clanging, remember to put a hole in the top of the unit so it can be
    attached with string to the upper part of the bell.)

    At the top of the cone, make a small loop out of clay, (score and slip
    it to the top of the cone) so you can string the legs on the inside of
    the bell. Put two small holes in the top of the head or in the back of
    the angel above the wings, so you can hang the angel windbell.
    Or put a small loop above the wings so you can hang it. Remember you want
    to balance it as much as possible so the wind will catch the legs,
    and the arms if they are moving free.

    Angel's hair:
    Take a small ball of clay and push it through the mesh of a strainer.
    You will end up with several "strands" of hair.
    Attach the strands of hair by scoring the head of the angel and slipping
    the part where you want the strands of hair to lay.
    Give your angel and creative hairdo and let it dry thoroughly.
    The strands of hair are very breakable and attaching the
    hair should be the very last thing that you should do to your angel
    before you fire it.

    *Scoring and slipping: This is easy to do. Mush clay to a consistency
    thicker than sour cream. "Scratch the clay with an old toothbrush on the
    sides of both pieces that should be attached together. Put the slip
    (mushed clay) on top of the scored areas and press together. Smooth both
    pieces together with your finger. This operation is done when the clay
    is at the leather-hard stage. Leather-hard means that it looks and feels
    like leather. If you do it too early, you'll have a mushy mess on your hands. If
    you wait until the clay is too dry, the pieces will not stick together.

    This is a great project for kids and classroom projects. Make sure that
    you use an earthenware clay or a stoneware.
    When buying the clay ask what cone it should be fired at.
    The cone indicates to the one firing it what temperature it should be
    fired at.

    If it's fired too high, the piece will melt in the potter's kiln.
    If it is fired too low, the clay will not be matured and it will not give
    you a pretty clanging sound as a bell. The clays that you can buy in craft
    shops and fire in your oven are NOT appropriate.
    They do not fire high enough to give you a durable windbell.

    The best thing to do is to find a potter beforehand who will fire
    your angels. Ask him or her which clay body to use and where
    you should buy it! Ask them what they will charge beforehand to fire
    your pieces. Good Luck..

    Jeannie Cole