Quilted Cupcake Vintage Spool Heart Tutorial

Vintage thread spools are one of my favorite collectibles.  I was lucky enough to have some from my mom, and I've also picked up several bags of them at thrift shops. Mom probably got hers at a thrift shop, too.  

After some trial and error, I created this Vintage Spools Heart studio decoration over the weekend:  See tutorial below!

My quest to create a vintage spool heart for my studio began after seeing this photo on Pinterest via Flickr and Paper Sparrow.  I searched about, and found that wasn't really a permanent decoration.  It was just a temporary arrangement of spools that she photographed. (You can buy a print of her spool design via her Etsy shop here). But, I wanted a 3-D version for my studio.   So, I decided I'd try to figure it out and make it into a tutorial for the blog.

The hardest part was finding the heart base.  Hubby was going to cut one out of some thin plywood until I happened up the perfect heart for .99 at Michael's this weekend.

Quilted Cupcake Spool Heart Tutorial

Supplies:

Vintage spools of thread

Wood heart cut out (found mine at Michael's for 0.99 - you could also cut one from a thin wood)

Tacky glue

Craft stick / tongue depressor to apply glue (optional, but nice) 

Paint and paintbrush

Vintage ribbons, lace, buttons to decorate spools.

Step one:  Sand and paint the heart base - I chose red!

Step two:  Gather up the vintage spools you wish to use.  I had some from my mom, but most were found at thrift shops.  Some may have thread, others may be plain wood.  For those that were plain, I added bits of lace and ribbon, along with buttons.  For the spools with thread, I glued the end of the thread to the spool with tacky glue.

Step 3:  Begin gluing spools in the middle.  Check the graphics on the spools, and decide which side you want to show.  

Step 4:  Be sure to leave room for the perimeter spools.  I saved the embellished spools for the outer edges.

Step 5:  Hang in your studio and enjoy!  The heart base I bought had a plastic hanger on it, so I'm going to use it for hanging.  If your base doesn't, you can use those nifty Command strip picture hangers.  Love those things!

Feel free to link to this tutorial, and even share the photo on your blog.  Just please also include a link to this post.

I'd be honored if you wanted to add this to your Pinterest board!

If you make one, please send me a picture - I'd love to see it!