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

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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