Vintage Spool Peg Rack
By Jessica Wilson
Little makes me happier than looking at a jar of vintage goodness. From bottle caps to bits of ribbon to an enormous jar of doll parts, I have quite a collection. This year I am pushing myself to move beyond the happy collections in the jars to actually doing something with them. What good are they really if they just sit there collecting dust? So, now and then, when I put together a gift or trinket for someone, the lids come off the jars and I rifle through them searching for the perfect encore. I may still add to the jars, but more often than not, I am using them and that is just dandy. As a crafter and maker of homemade goodness, I strive to use as much of my stash as possible. Here is an easy project for you to use up and display some of your prettiest vintage wooden spools. You can, of course, use any spools you have but the vintage ones will need no treatment, as their happily old fashioned tops are magical to begin with. When you are finished, you will have a vintage-pretty peg shelf to hang even more of your vintage lovelies.
Materials
Assortment of large vintage wooden spools
Wood plaque from your local craft store
Wood screws, about ¼” longer than your spool
Phillips screwdriver
Pencil for marking
Picture hanger or pull tab from soda can
Strong glue like E6000
Paint and decoupage papers optional
Directions
For this project I am using a pre-made plaque I picked up at Michael’s. You can use a vintage piece of wood or something that you cut up and shaped yourself. A small plaque is perfect for a single spool while a larger one can hold a few more. It’s all up to you.
Step 1: Flip your plaque over so that the back faces up. Determine the center of the plaque by measuring its width and dividing that number in half. Mark your center with a pencil. Affix your picture hanger evenly over your center mark either by gluing it on with your E6000 glue or hammering it into the plaque with small nails. If using glue, allow a few hours for the glue to cure.
Step 2: Gather your materials and spend some time playing around with your spools and plaque(s). For vintage spools, having the thread still on the spool adds a bit of color and fun to the overall look. Find the end of your thread and add a touch of clear drying glue to keep it from unraveling. Once you have decided on where you want your spool to go, mark its place with a pencil. Paint or treat your wood before adding the spool if you want a splash of color for your shelf. I like the natural wood with the vintage spools but maybe a backsplash decoupage with some vintage sewing patterns would be a treat.
Step 3: Begin your hole on the pencil mark by gently twisting a screw into the wood. Once you get a good hole started, remove your screw and move on to the next step.
Step 4: Thread your screw through the center hole of your spool and align the point of the screw with the hole marking you just made. Ease the point of the screw into the hole and twist it in using your screwdriver. Twist until your spool is neatly anchored to the wood. If the screw head is smaller than the hole in your spool, add a spot of glue to the bottom of the head before you finish screwing it in.
Step 5: Continue for each spool and plaque and find a happy place to hang. Add some vintage lovelies, and you are free to go thrift shopping to replenish those spools you just used!
Alternate idea: If you have oodles of plastic spools that you can’t seem to throw away. Turn them into shelves as well. These you can paint and/or decoupage over to add a splash of color. Shelves like this would be perfect for showing off your collection of vintage necklaces or beaded handbags. Have fun!
About the Author:
Jessica Wilson is most happily known as ‘jek in the box’ and spends most of her time crafting it up and taking pictures. She can often be found standing on benches over on Flickr and creating all sorts of kiddie crafts on her blog scrumdilly-do! She lives a life of scrumdillydilly and loves to share.
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