Vintage Thread Nests No.2: Spools

A couple of years ago, while stripping old spools of their brittle thread, I crafted a series of colorful thread nests. Today, I took that project a step further and included the original spools, with thread remaining, as a part of each finished piece.

My tiny nests spun from the thread on the spools reminds me so much of a favorite book I read to my kids, No Roses for Harry!. It’s the sweetest story of the gift of a rose patterned sweater gifted to Harry the Dog from Grandma. Harry hated that sweater and was trying everything he could to “loose” it, but the children kept finding it and giving it back to him. (Spoiler alert…) One day while in the park a bird took hold of one tiny string coming from Harry’s sweater and flew away with it, unraveling the sweater completely. Harry was delighted! Later, he led his family to the tree to discover that the bird had made a rose patterned nest with the yarn from Harry’s sweater.

For the tiny spool nests I used little eggs that I purchased on Etsy.

I matched vintage spools of thread to Martha Stewart craft paint I had on hand, but most any acrylic paint will work just fine to paint the little eggs.I snipped several tiny twigs from the boxwood bushes in the yard, each with forked areas to hold the nests.I wrapped thread around two fingers multiple times, removed and molded the thread rolls into nests, this time using hot glue. I filled each nest with eggs, glued them into place and tucked the nests into the crooks of the branches. I ran the thread from the spool up and into the nest to finish. These would be fun little favors, place setting decorations or shadowbox decor. And though I prefer the sparseness of the bare branches, you could tiny leaves of small print fabric to enhance them. Here are my final spool nests: