Mini Spools of Thread Ornament

Earlier this year Amanda began taking sewing classes, so I was inspired to create a sewing themed ornament by wrapping ribbon around tiny wooden spools and dropping them in a glass ornament.

Recycled Spools

I had 2 old empty spools that I wanted to save simply because they were old, but what to do with them to make them useful? They were just sitting in a box of random parts. Enter my new rotary tool obsession! I cut off one end of each spool, since there was one end of each that was in better shape than the other.

The pin.

This was definitely the most challenging of my rotary tool cutting, since I had to cut through the outer layer, six spokes, and the inner layer. I filled the holes that were created with hot glue to protect the label from getting a hole poked through it. I coated the labels with a layer of Mod Podge for additional protection.

The back of the pin.

The magnet.

They are about 1" in diameter.

Tiny Spool Tree

This was the first ornament I made for the 2012 Ornament Exchange. I was digging through my stash of supplies looking for ideas, and I found a whole bunch of the tiny wooden spools that I used for my yo-yo pumpkins. I usually brainstorm my own ideas, but I was rather uninspired this year, so I googled "spool crafts" and found lots of ideas, but I liked this little tree best. Conveniently, I had everything I needed on hand, and the ribbon from my ribbon tree was the perfect size. The spools are only half an inch tall, so the entire ornament is only 2.5" high.

Candy Cane Spool Wreath

While searching for spool crafts, I came across this spool wreath and decided to make one using the red ribbon left from the ribbon tree.