Heirloom
Angels

The Angel That Reminds You of Your Mother's

When the Heirloom Angels series launched in 2016, one collector's first response — written in a review — was immediate and specific: "Love this ornament. Reminds me of some paper angels my mother had when I was a child." That response captures exactly what the series was designed to produce. Each entry is modeled after the vintage angelic figures that graced Hallmark Christmas cards and decorations across decades — celestial figures rendered in a traditional style that carries the warmth of something inherited rather than purchased, familiar in the way that objects from childhood are familiar.

The series arrived the same year the Heavenly Belles collection closed — and was immediately recognized by collectors as its natural successor, a new annual angel series stepping into the same space with its own distinct identity. Where Heavenly Belles featured functional porcelain bells, Heirloom Angels reaches further back into the Christmas tradition: these are the angels from the cards your grandmother kept, the Christmas tree figures from holiday imagery that predates any specific memory you have of them, rendered in the Hallmark Keepsake format at the level of detail the Studio brings to every heirloom-grade series.

Each angel in the series has her own character — her own hair color, gown design, seasonal accessories, pose. The 2024 entry: a black-haired angel in a green and blue scalloped gown holding a bowl of botanicals, the garden brought inside for December. The 2025 entry: a blonde angel in winter green with fluffy trim and a gold muff, all seasonal warmth and elegance. Ten years in, the series continues to find new ways to be the same essential thing: a beautiful angel ornament that belongs on a Christmas tree and, someday, in a box to be passed down.

Edythe Kegrize & Allie Robillard

An Angel Worth Passing Down

The word "heirloom" in a series name is a specific claim — it says this object is not just beautiful now but meant to be kept and eventually given to someone who will keep it after you. The angel ornament has been part of Christmas decorating since the tradition began, and the particular style of angel that the Heirloom Angels series depicts — the vintage Hallmark card aesthetic, the traditional gown and wings — is one that crosses generations without requiring explanation. Every person who has ever grown up in a household that decorated for Christmas knows this angel. She has always been on the tree.

That recognition — the feeling that this object already belongs to a tradition you inherited rather than one you chose — is what the series works to produce, and what the collector who noted that the 2016 #1 reminded her of her mother's paper angels was describing. The specific memory of a specific person's decorating tradition, activated by an ornament that participates in the same visual language. An heirloom doesn't have to be old. It just has to carry the quality of something that deserves to outlast the year it was made.

Ten entries since 2016, with a new angel arriving each year. Each one slightly different — a new hair color, a new gown, a new seasonal accessory — but each one unmistakably part of the same tradition. The series is ongoing, which means the collection keeps growing, and the tradition of adding an annual Heirloom Angel to a tree can continue for as long as the series does.

Decoration Tips

• 01
  An annual Heirloom Angel is one of the most enduring Christmas traditions available. One new angel per year, added to the tree, is a tradition that compounds over time. Ten years in, the collection is already a meaningful record of a decade. The series is ongoing — the tradition can continue.
• 02
  Group the complete run together on the tree or in a display. Ten angels from 2016 through 2025, arranged together, demonstrate the series' visual coherence — each figure distinct in character but recognizably part of the same aesthetic family. The group is more striking than any individual piece.
• 03
  The series makes a particularly meaningful gift for a new household. A Heirloom Angels ornament given to mark a first home, a first Christmas together, or a child's first Christmas begins a collection that can grow each year. Starting the tradition with the current year's entry and filling back years over time creates a collection with personal history attached.
• 04
  The 2024 botanical entry is the series' most nature-connected piece. Allie Robillard's black-haired angel with a bowl of garden greenery and berries is the series entry that most directly connects the celestial and the natural — ideal for households where botanical or garden aesthetics extend into holiday decorating.
• 05
  The series is designed to be passed down. "Heirloom" is the operating principle. These ornaments are built and described as objects meant to outlast the year they were made and eventually join someone else's tree. Keep them in their boxes. They're worth protecting.

Display Tips

• 01
  The 2016 #1 is the series' essential founding piece. Designed after vintage Hallmark Christmas card imagery — a big hit with angel collectors from the moment it launched. The collector who wants the complete run always secures this one first. Already Christmas carries it.
• 02
  The Kegrize-to-Robillard transition is worth noting in the display. The series began with Edythe Kegrize — who also created Heavenly Belles — and has continued with Allie Robillard in recent years. A collector who knows both artists will notice the subtle shift in sculptural voice across the series while the aesthetic continuity holds. The transition itself is part of the series' story.
• 03
  The series connects to Heavenly Belles for longtime Hallmark angel collectors. Both series were created by Edythe Kegrize. Displaying the four Heavenly Belles entries (2013–2016) alongside the Heirloom Angels run (2016–2025) creates a continuous twelve-year record of Kegrize-originated Hallmark angel series, with the Heirloom Angels #1 arriving the same year as the final Heavenly Belle.
• 04
  Each entry is distinct enough to stand alone as a gift. Unlike some series where individual entries need context to be appreciated, any single Heirloom Angels figure works on its own — the traditional aesthetic is immediately legible to anyone who has ever seen a Christmas angel ornament. A current-year entry makes an excellent standalone gift for an angel collector or anyone who simply appreciates a beautiful traditional ornament.
• 05
  The full run from 2016 through 2025 is available at Already Christmas. All ten angels, including the founding 2016 #1 and the newest 2025 entry, are in the collection.