I started selling dried florals and angels some 20 years ago. I put my business aside a number of years ago and took a job in the business world. One year ago I decided to once again sell my dried floral home decor and Christmas angels on Etsy. I didn't realize how things had changed. There were some gift shops in the area which sold my items years ago. Now they were not interested in them as there is no demand for dried florals. I suppose you might say "dried florals are so 1980's". Boy doesn't that make me feel old. One consignment shop said she remembered my work was beautiful but said they won't sell. I recall, one local business, Betsy Williams had such beautiful wreaths for sale. Today, there doesn't seem to be any businesses like that in the area. The other surprise was that I could no longer obtain the paper twist ribbon for the angels. At one time you could find paper twist anywhere and it seemed like they were making everything out of paper twist ribbon. I wish I had some pictures of those early angels. What was I to do? I found some interesting fabrics and began to experiment.
I found that fabric was so much more difficult to work with. All the additional measuring and cutting was a lot of work. The fabric was too soft and wouldn't hold it's shape. Fraying edges were also a problem. I decided to try Stiffy fabric stiffener. I knew you could shape fabric into beautiful bow shapes and use the Stiffy and it would mold them into beautiful shapes. So I tried to saturate an angel with the Stiffy and carefully draped the skirt as it dried. The Stiffy worked great creating a long lasting finish and resolved the fraying edges problem. A quick trim of any frayed edges worked great. These angels make beautiful Christmas tree tops or table centerpieces.
I also have some wired ribbon angel bows which make great package decorations or Christmas ornaments.
My first angels had spanish moss for hair which had a real country look.
I wanted something which would give them a different look so I ordered some Baby Alpaca Roving Fiber Yarn from LaTeaDaDesigns on etsy and created a softer hair on some of my angels.
Kindly visit either my Angelsneverlastings Etsy shop or my new Artfire shop to view other angel creations and dried floral home decor.
