How To Make A Vintage Wooden Thread Spool Ornament

Turn old wooden thread spools into beautiful vintage-style Christmas ornaments with this easy upcycling project. Wrap printed song lyrics or messages around each spool, add twine for hanging, and enjoy handmade decorations that blend nostalgia, creativity, and festive charm.

I have combined my favourite Christmas song lyrics with something you find in an old sewing tin to make a vintage wooden thread spool ornament. I love rummaging through old tins full of sewing bits and pieces. In addition to the gorgeous old buttons, I’m also drawn to the lovely vintage wooden thread spools.

I made the spools into cute little scroll holders. On the Christmas scrolls, I decided to print the lyrics of my family’s favourite Christmas songs;
White Christmas
Little Drummer Boy
& Let It Snow

You can print what you like on the little scrolls. Such as a “Naughty & Nice” list for Santa! Which Christmas song or message would you print onto your Christmas Scroll Ornament?

These ornaments were featured with these other adult Christmas craft ideas.

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What You Need

• Vintage wooden thread spool – If you don’t have an elderly relative’s sewing box to raid for wooden thread spools, try your local thrift shop or charity shop.
• A4 Kraft paper
• Christmas twine
• Red paint and dark wax
• Glue, scissors or rotary cutter

How to Make A Thread Spool Ornament

Step 1: First, prepare your wooden thread spool. I painted a couple of mine red and then rubbed them with dark wax to add to that vintage patina.

I left one of the spools unpainted, but still waxed it, as I liked the label on the end. Measure the inside of the wooden spool, as this will be the width of the Christmas scroll.

Step 2: Prepare the scroll for the wooden thread spool ornament. I chose to use the lyrics of my favourite Christmas songs. Then, I printed them onto kraft paper.

Step 3: I printed my lyrics instead of handwriting them. My script handwriting skills are not great, especially when writing in a small font.

I used Wordmark.it to choose a script font to print. Wordmark.it is an excellent tool for picking fonts. Just type in a phrase or word, and the site will show you that phrase written in all the fonts loaded on your computer. You can also choose to see the word in Google fonts.

If you choose a Google font rather than one already on your computer, it is easy to download and install that font using Wordmark.it

I picked the Google font Calligraffiti.

Step 3: Once you have chosen your lyrics and font, paste them into a word processing package such as Word. In Word, I created a table with columns the width of the inside of the wooden spool. Then, when I pasted my lyrics into the word table, I knew they would fit the scroll.

Step 4: Print the lyrics onto the A4 Kraft paper.

Step 5: Next, cut out the strips of lyrics. Then, cut a fork into the end of the strip.

Step 6: Paste the back of the kraft paper with glue and glue it around the wooden thread spool. Ensure that the forked end of the kraft paper hangs free from the end of the wooden spool.

Step 7: Finally, thread the twine through the holes in the wooden spool.

Other Upcycled Christmas Crafts

These Christmas ornaments make a great craft idea for selling.

If you enjoy making homemade Christmas ornaments, be sure to check out some of my other upcycled/repurposed ornament DIYs, including these adorable wine cork Christmas figures.

Glamorous Oyster Shell Ornament

Thread Reel Map Christmas Ornament
Fun Frida Kahlo Ornament
Christmas pudding wood slice ornament

For more Christmas ornament ideas, visit allfreeholidays.com.