Upcycle a Thread Spool into a Sheep

If you're anything like me and you sew frequently, eventually you accumulate quite a few empty plastic thread spools. I have a hard time throwing something like that into the trash, preferring to find a way to reuse or recycle it. Today I'll share how you can turn your empty thread spool into an adorable wool roving-covered sheep!

Materials:

• ​Wool roving (available at your local craft store)
• Embroidery Floss
• 2" Eye Pins from the jewelry second of your local craft store
  
• 1/16" drill bit (or corresponding bit on a Dremmel Tool)
  
• White and black scraps of felt
  
• Empty thread spools
• Hot glue gun
  

Trace the outline of your thread spool onto the white felt. Cut out two white circles to cover the ends of your spool. Cut a rounded-edge triangle out of the black felt (you can eyeball this based on the size of your thread spool.) Also cut two ear shapes from the black felt. Hot glue the white circles onto the ends of the spool. It helps to remove the labels from the manufacturer first, as some labels are plastic and will melt and curl with the hot glue.

Using white embroidery floss, embroider a mouth and two eyes (I used French knots for the eyes). Hot glue this onto one of the white circles at the end of your thread spool.

With a sharpie pen, mark four spots for positioning legs. This will be different depending on the size of your spool, but you can space the front legs 1/2" apart, and the front from the back legs 1".

Using your drill, make four holes where you marked. This is easier than you think! Don't fear the power tools, but wear safety glasses, please, just in case.

Select 4 eye pins to use for legs.

Place the eye pins into the holes as far as they will go and hot glue in place. Don't worry about being messy with this part as it will be covered up by the roving in the next step.

Take some roving (how much is entirely up to you), and wrap around the thread spool, gluing in spots to hold it all in place. Bend the "legs" to make "feet" so that your sheep can stand up on its own. You can do this with just your fingers, or needle nose pliers.

Separate a small slot in the roving for ears, and hot glue them into place.

Congratulations! You've re-purposed an empty thread spool into an adorable sheep! Do you have ways to reuse thread spools? I would love to hear from you in the comments!