Cassie Bustamante

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Vintage Wood Spool Ornaments (A Tutorial) & More Christmas Decor

November 8, 2012 by Cassie 32 Comments

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Sarah and I have been busy crafting away to prepare for next weekend’s barn sale!  We have both been creating repurposed vintage Christmas ornaments and decor, and were even able to get together Tuesday to get our craft on!   While I was at Sarah’s I started putting together some vintage spool ornaments.  I didn’t take pictures of the first steps, but I am going to walk you through it all.  These ornaments were simple enough to make.  I had pinned them to my Christmas idea board (The original post came from BHG online) and loosely followed their instructions.  Here is my inspiration….

I found this project by searching for wooden spool decorations so I could finally put the spools I had hoarded collected to good use.

You will need…

wooden spools, duh.
wire, I used 18 guage
buttons, beads, jungle bells
vintage paper or other paper
mod podge
elmer’s glue
glitter of choice
wire clippers
ribbon or jute string or raffia if desired
ornament hooks
foam brushes

1. Cut your paper where you want and to size per spool.  Using a foam brush, cover the wooden spool where the thread would have been with Mod Podge, and press your paper onto it.  Once it dries, give it a couple more coats of Mod Podge.

2. Once that dries, paint Elmer’s Glue onto the edges where you want glitter.  Have glitter ready on a pan or paper plate, and roll your spool in the glitter.  Allow to dry.   At this point they will look like the photo below.  As you can see I used vintage Christmas books and sheet music.

3.Cut a piece of wire approximately an inch or so longer than twice the length of the spool.

 4. Weave the wire through a bead, button or bell of your choice (it just has to be larger than the hole in the spool) and center it on the wire, and fold the wire in half.

 5. Insert the ends of the wire into the bottom end spool, and pull all the way until the button, bead, or bell, stops it from going any further.  On the bottom, you will have your bell, and on the top two loose ends of wire.

6. Add a button through the two loose ends.

 7. Twist the two ends together for a closure and create a  hook/hoop out of one end, trimming any excess with your clippers.

At this point, you can weave a ribbon through if you’d like and tie it before you add your ornament hook.  I did this for some of mine, but some I left plain.  Here are some of them complete and hanging from branches in my dining room so I could take pictures to show you. 🙂

So there you have it!  That’s how to create your own spool ornaments!  And now you see why I rarely write tutorials.  Let’s just say I know my strengths and my weaknesses.

Anyhow, white I was working on these spools, I also created more vintage Christmas book boxes and plaques like the ones I made during the hurricane.  Here are the new boxes…

Sarah had the great idea to glitter Rudolph’s nose red.  Love it!

Total sidenote, but did you know that Richard Scarry illustrated the Little Golden Book Rudolph?  I just noticed that, and it completely makes sense, but I had not know!

I also made 6 more plaques, but the picture of all of them was a little off, so I will just show you my personal favorite.  Could be the sweet Rudolph, or the pink, red, and aqua….

It’s been pretty dark cold here and I have not been able to paint much, but I have found plenty of fun craftiness to keep myself occupied and happy!  All of these items will be available at the barn sale November 16-18!  Sarah and I are heading there today to get set up.  I am hoping to share some photos tomorrow, as well as some exciting news of what’s happening this month at the barn, in case you have not already heard!!!!

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Comments

  1. Laura from Top This Top That says

    November 8, 2012 at 11:23 am

    Boy you have been busy with crafts. These are so precious.

    Reply
  2. Julia Konya says

    November 8, 2012 at 11:29 am

    I love the one with the little deer. What a great idea!

    Reply
  3. Shelley {Crazy Wonderful} says

    November 8, 2012 at 11:36 am

    I hadn’t put two and two together either, but you’re right, it totally makes sense that he illustrated that! Really cute. And anything that you use for crafting is automatically disqualified from being called hoarded 😉

    Reply
  4. Jennifer @ Town and Country Living says

    November 8, 2012 at 11:45 am

    The spools are adorable! I love all of these creations. You’ve put me in the Christmas mood.

    Reply
  5. Lisa @ Shine Your Light says

    November 8, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    You are one crafty girl! The spools are so cute and I love those little boxes you did too!

    Reply
  6. Elizabeth @ The Little Black Door says

    November 8, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    How very cute!!

    Reply
  7. Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. says

    November 8, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    Oh those little spools are darling! And I love all the vintage images on the boxes! I bet you girls had fun crafting together!

    Reply
  8. Jacqueline says

    November 8, 2012 at 1:16 pm

    These are cute! I have a bunch of old spools lying around.

    Reply
  9. Andrea says

    November 8, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    So cute! Your craftiness always amazes me. Love Rudolph’s glitter nose.

    Reply
  10. Karah @ thespacebetweenblog says

    November 8, 2012 at 2:18 pm

    LOVE these. Vintage and glitter, two of my favorite things. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Decor & Harmony says

    November 8, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    I love crafts 🙂 can I come over I’ll bring my glue gun! So cute.

    Reply
  12. Rita says

    November 8, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    Gorgeous!! I love these!

    Reply
  13. Bliss says

    November 8, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    I could get crafty with these so I’m pinning. Except my pin button isn’t working so when I figure out why, I’m pinning these.

    Bliss

    Reply
  14. Dear Emmeline says

    November 8, 2012 at 2:45 pm

    cute idea to put the little jingle bells on the bottom! Rudolph’s nose does look good glittered…make’s it look like it’s actually glowing!

    Reply
  15. pam {simple details} says

    November 8, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    Too cute, and Rudolph looks perfect with a little bling!

    Reply
  16. Maury @ Life on Mars says

    November 8, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    so cute! love those little spools!

    Reply
  17. Renee says

    November 8, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    Adorable!!!! Someday I’ll return to crafting and blogging…

    Reply
  18. The Bold Abode says

    November 8, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    The whole world should be covered in glitter… could you imagine? No one could be mean or disparaging if they were in a suit of glitter, right?

    I think I’ll start a glitter campaign…

    🙂

    Reply
  19. Denise at PinkPostcard. says

    November 8, 2012 at 4:06 pm

    soooooo CA-UTE!!!! oh my gosh. Love the ornaments and the darling little boxes. That is crazy about Richard Scarry! (can you tell now that I have a thing for those books, after my professed love of Lowly Worm?? LOL!)
    I hope you have a successful sale- I will think of you all as I am selling at my show that same weekend 😉

    Reply
  20. Ali Richardson says

    November 8, 2012 at 4:26 pm

    Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! I love ALL of those!!!!!! SO stinkin’ cute! I got an old rudolph golden book and will most certainly be copying u 🙂

    Reply
  21. Laura @ Our Prairie Home says

    November 8, 2012 at 4:32 pm

    So cute! Love these, Cassie!

    Reply
  22. DecorandtheDog says

    November 8, 2012 at 5:07 pm

    Writing tutorials sucks. I just like to write random things.

    These are really cute!!

    Reply
  23. Catherine says

    November 8, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    They’re lovely Cassie! I love the sheet music one!

    I’ve done nothing about Christmas! With a 4th birthday party on December 1 all eyes are focused there.. then December 2 comes and all hell brakes loose!

    Reply
  24. the modern cottage says

    November 9, 2012 at 12:07 am

    Those are amazing! I think I might try them.

    Reply
  25. Hetty says

    November 9, 2012 at 2:10 am

    Thanks for the tutorial Cassie, I will get a few old spools at the thrift store-love those ornaments!

    Reply
  26. Carmel @ Our Fifth House says

    November 9, 2012 at 2:16 am

    These are so cute! Thanks for the tutorial! I need to do some crafting!

    Reply
  27. Kelly says

    November 9, 2012 at 2:56 am

    Super cute! I think Andy’s grandma would love these – thinking I might need to give ’em a try!

    Reply
  28. Lisa @ Turning Tables says

    November 9, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    So adorable! All of it. You are seriously putting me in the Christmas mood.

    Reply
  29. caviardreamsblog says

    November 29, 2012 at 2:53 am

    I think this is what I’m going to do with the spool left over from my holiday ribbon!!!

    Reply
  30. Michelle says

    December 4, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    Now this is thinking out of the box! What a unique idea, they make beautiful ornaments great job 🙂

    Reply
  31. Doro von Hand zu Hand says

    December 7, 2012 at 8:34 am

    these are so pretty vintage-looking ornaments.
    I linked to your tutorial on my blog – thanks for sharing!

    doro K.

    Reply
  32. {Steph} says

    December 11, 2012 at 2:05 am

    So cute! Thanks for visiting me at Silver Boxes. 🙂

    ~Steph

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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