Ode to Floss Spools

Under a Blue Moon is one of my favorite blogs to read. It is full of good ideas, wonderful inspiring photos AND as a bonus, the writing is really entertaining. This week I have been going back through Andrea's old posts - the ones before I discovered her - and came across her handmade floss spools. Now those spools are just floating through my head. I love them. Keep in mind that I haven't cross stitched or embroidered in years. It doesn't matter. If I had these spools I know I would pick it up again.
I emailed Andrea about them and asked permission to picture them on my blog. Here's what she said -

I did make them and they were super easy. I bought a dowel (I want to say it was a quarter inch in diameter or so) and cut it into four or five inch pieces. Then I slightly sharpened each end in a pencil sharpener (just to taper it slightly). I bought the little finial ends at JoAnns (a craft and fabric store - not sure how widespread they are). The finial ends have a little hole already drilled in them so I just put in a drop of glue and jammed them on the ends of the dowel pieces.

Then I painted them. I got the idea from Heather Bailey's website.
http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/

I can just see oodles of them in a vintage bowl. The bowl would sit on a table next to a cozy, cushy chair where I would sit to peacefully sew in the evenings. That's the dream scenario. In our house... the house of Dr. Doolittle who attracts stray animals like a Pied Piper... those floss spools would need to stay under cover most of the time. Otherwise a couple of bad, bad (but adorable) kitty cats would have a field day scattering them throughout the house.
This, by the way, is Cindy Lou (also known as Cindy Lou Who, Doodlebug or Sugarbug). The photo was taken over a year ago. She's bigger now and a bit pudgy, but still young enough to love trouble. She and her partner in crime, Sissy, would just love those floss spools!