Packrat's Nest

SHEESH! Here it is, the end of May already!! Is this how the summer is going to fly by?? I sure hope not. Mom always told me the older you get, the faster the time goes...I have to admit she was right!

Well, on to better things! I received a RAK from Shelly over at Paper Patch Crafts...it was a bag of empty ribbon spools. When I opened the bag, I hooted with laughter! I've been begging around for the empty spools but Shelly was the first to oblige me. *big grin for Shelly* Now, for why I wanted them...I want to make some "Spoolies" with them. What's a Spoolie you ask? Well, just take a gander at the pics below.

This is just the coolest little album made with the empty ribbon spools, thus a"Spoolie"

When you flip the lid up, this is what you find inside. There are five circular pages held together with a loose leaf ring.

This is what it looks like without the pages spread out.

You start out by taking apart the spool. I use a knife to separate the ring from the circle piece carefully. Don't puncture the circles. After all is separated, I sand both flat sides of the ring to get any remaining bits of paper off before going any further. Next I paper both circle pieces on both sides and when finished, I held them together and punched a hole through both with my Crop-a-Dial, allowing room for the hole to be inside the ring. I papered the ring and once again sanded then glued to one of the circles. I cut circles from card stock allowing 1/4" around them so they come out easily when everything is put together. Embellish however you like and then put all together with the loose leaf ring and add ribbon if you wish. I added two tails of thin ribbon to the bottom of the circle pieces so I can tie it closed. TA-DAH! A Spoolie! They go pretty fast after you do one or two and are loads of fun. They make great brag books and I even have one hanging on my Christmas tree with photos of a previous holiday. If you have any questions, just give me a shout!

*scratching head* Now what can I share with y'all in my next post? Hafta think on that a bit.