One day, I was in one of my favorite thrift stores, and I found some small wooden spools. They looked kind of like these:
I thought they looked interesting – cool, vintage, industrial – but wasn’t sure what they were or what to do with them. So, I decided to leave them at the store and think about it.
I thought about them.
And thought about them.
And I decided I really, really wanted them after all.
And you know what happened next… I went back to the thrift store and they were gone. (Sigh.)
So, imagine my surprise when my lovely friend Jeanie from Create and Babble sent me these spools for Swap It Like It’s Hot!

They still have the vintage labels on them! (Love!)
“Swap It Like It’s Hot” is a week’s worth of DIY and repurposing goodness! It was started and is organized by the fabulous Charlotte of Ciburbanity, and here’s how it works:
There are twenty-nine bloggers who are participating in this Swap. Each blogger goes to a thrift store, estate sale, or any kind of second-hand sale/store and purchases no more than $10-$15 worth of goodies that can be made over. That blogger then sends those items to the next blogger on the list. That person then has to make over the items sent into something fabulous and amazing.
Click HERE to see the last “Swap It Like It’s Hot” project I did!
Now, with this swap item, there’s a bit of a catch.
I didn’t want to make them over! I love them just the way they are. Bookends maybe? Mantel decoration?
So, I kind of compromised. I made them over, but without changing a thing about them.
These vintage spools make the perfect holder for my DIY pennant banner!
Here’s how I made the banner:
Materials:
Decorative paper – I used this paper, from JoAnn, but you could use anything, even fabric.
Twine or yarn (to hang the banner)
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler
Sharpie pen or paint pen
Glue gun
Wooden dowel(s) – I had this in my scrap wood pile. I used one 7/8-in. dowel, 36 inches long, and cut it in half. If you need to buy one at the hardware store, take the spool with you and find the size that fits in the hole in the spool.
Hand saw
Hammer
Two small nails
Vintage spools – these held shoe laces!
Instructions:
(1) Choose the paper and cut the paper into pennant flags.
Pick which paper you want to make into flags. I chose a mixture of patterns and colors for Halloween.

How cute are those bats?!?
Find the halfway point at the bottom edge of the paper and make a small pencil mark there. Then draw a line from that point to the right corner of the paper, then do the same with the left side. Cut the paper along the lines to create a triangle.
Do that for each sheet.
(2) Write on the pennants.
If you are going to spell something out with the flags, now is the time to write on them. I used a gold sharpie for the letters on my pennants, but you could use a paint pen as well.
I wrote out “SPOOKY” for Halloween, but I also made one that says “Give Thanks” for Thanksgiving! You could do this for any holiday or occasion – the sky’s the limit!
You can do this after you glue the pennants to the twine, but it’s much easier to do it when they’re not attached to anything yet.
(3) Arrange and glue the pennants to the twine.
Get the pennants how you want them – I wanted the corners overlapping a bit, and I wanted the banner to curve a little. Once you have everything where you want it, turn the pennants over – you are gluing the twine to the back of the pennants – and run a line of hot glue about an inch or so from the top edge of the pennant. Press the twine into the glue.
To make sure the pennants were securely attached to the twine, I added a few extra beads of hot glue over the top of the twine.
(4) Prepare the dowels.
First, cut the dowel to the size you want. Each dowel needs to be long enough to fit into the spools and be the right height for the banner to hang. I used a 36-inch-long dowel and cut it in half using a hand saw (not a power tool – that would be too much for this small dowel). That was perfect.
Next, nail a small nail into the top of each dowel. This is where you’ll tie the twine to hang the banner.
Last, if you want to paint the dowels, now would be the time to do that!
(5) Hang the banner.
Tie one end of the twine to the nail in each dowel. Make sure you tie it tight enough for the banner to hang the way you want. Trim any extra twine after tying. Place the dowels in the holes in each spool, making sure that the cool, funky, vintage label is face up for all to admire.
And that’s it!
I love this project because (a) you can change the banner for any holiday or occasion; and (b) I didn’t change (or worse, ruin!) the spools! I can still decide I just want to use them for bookends and I won’t have to do anything other than remove the dowels from the holes.
You HAVE to check out the other bloggers’ projects for the Swap, too! They are amazing! You can find them here:
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Next up today is my beautiful friend, Jessica, at Gourley Girl and Guy! Head on over…
What a good idea! You were able to use the spools without changing them at all. And you can use them this way for every holiday and occasion! You’re so smart!
Thanks, Jeanie! Thank you for sending them to me – you clearly know me well!! 😉
Karen, this is a great idea. I bought a couple of these spools and planned to make lamps out of them. If you ever want more of them, Kudzu Antique in Decatur has boxes of them for sale.
Thank you! I love Kudzu – I’ll have to check that out! If you make lamps from them, please share – I’d love to see them!
What a great and functional idea. I have several spools and now I’m going to put them to use. Thanks for the creative inspiration.
Thank you! I love them!!
Those spools were a hard one to work with! The banner turned out so cute!
Thanks, Shanna! I love Swap It – so fun!!
I know it defeats the purpose of SWAP but I’m sort of glad you didn’t make these guys over. I love them too! The pennant is a GENIUS solution. So smart. Thanks again for joining along!! xx
Thanks, Charlotte! Thank you for hosting and organizing the swap – I love participating!! xoxo
Cute use for these spools. They had a great patina glad to see you could use them as is.
Thanks, Maggie! I love them, too!
I am fascinated by old spools, too. I love that you were able to give them a new purpose without changing them!
Thank you, Emily!!
So simple, and so perfect!
Thank you, Ariel!!
I LOVE that you used them in a completely different way but left them as is, cause they are so awesome. and, the fact that you got them as a swap it like it’s hot surprise is so awesome, meant to be! Excellent job!
Thank you, Laurie! I just couldn’t touch them – they were too awesome as-is!
Awwwww! This is so cute! I love it and such a great DIY halloween decor piece. Easily changeable for each holiday!
Thanks, Stephanie! I know – I’m already planning for Christmas and beyond!
I love what you did with these. I have a set that I just love 🙂
Thanks, Lynn!!
I wish you could have seen the face I made when I saw what you did with the spools. I was all duckface, nodding my head like “yeah that was a wicked cool idea!” LOL such a great way to use them.
Thank you, Jillian!! LOL!!!
Cute idea, and perfect for Halloween!
Thanks, Erin!
Funny that she sent you something you loved already! They look great and I’m glad you kept them as is too! XO
Thank you, Christy! xo
This is great! What size would you say the spools are? 1 foot tall?
Thanks!
A little shorter than that – maybe 10 in.