A Shoelace and Some Empty Spools
By Morley Hunt
@Morleyhunt (21741)
Canada
February 3, 2016 6:31pm CST
Simple things can amuse small children.
I am a seamstress. I do a lot of sewing. As a result a lot of thread gets used and many, many spools are emptied.
When my children were small I would save the empty spools and they would string them together with shoe laces or ribbon and wear them as necklaces.
The bag of spools by my sewing machine was getting rather full. Remembering how much my children had enjoyed playing with them I strung a shoelace full and threw it into the toybox.
The first time one of my grandchildren came for a visit, the spools were promptly placed around her neck. This was expected of a one year old.
A few days later, some more of the grand children came for a visit. The two year old wanted to wear the spool necklace, the three year old wanted to wear the spool necklace. So did the five year old and the eight year old. I had lots of spools so I made a few more necklaces.
Surprise. The eleven year old boy came for a visit, the first thing he grabbed was the spool necklaces and proceeded to wear all of them at the same time.
Who needs toys. Apparently my cast of spools are entertainment enough.
12 people like this
11 responses
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
5 Feb 16
Empty spools, empty boxes, laundry baskets....my afghans are forever used to be something other than a blanket.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Feb 16
I wish they were all so easy to entertain all of the time.
I'm double-checking, but it looks like this discussion posted twice, did you notice yet?
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Feb 16
@Morleyhunt That makes sense, although a bit odd. I've gotten that timed out error while making a comment. Sometimes I've had to come back later, maybe the same thing happened for me a few times as I never checked.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
4 Feb 16
I've deleted one. I had tried to post but it just kept timing out. I guess one of the timed out attempts had posted.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
5 Feb 16
We considered the Tupperware cupboard as an extension of the toy box.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502533)
• Italy
5 Feb 16
@Morleyhunt It is surely too big, try to resize the photo, this should work.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
5 Feb 16
I tried to post the picture of the eleven year old boy....but it wouldn't load.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91116)
• United States
4 Feb 16
I remember making those spool necklaces when my children were small. They were lots of fun and my girls loved to play dress-up. My mom still has a button box that my youngest granddaughter likes to play with
2 people like this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
5 Feb 16
@Morleyhunt I don't know how it's made. I just remember it.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
5 Feb 16
@just4him I'll find it...I'm nothing if not persistent.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
5 Feb 16
I'll have to look into instructions for a spool doll. I get so many spools.
1 person likes this
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
6 Feb 16
When I was a kid we had no toys except homemade ones but had lots of fun, even cardboard boxes and pots and pans that were discarded. On stormy days when we were indoors with no TV and of course no other modern gadgets, we had lots of fun dressing up in old clothes and the like. Parents today give their children far too many toys. I've seen small kids leave their toys and start banging some pots and pans and couldn't have been enjoying themselves more. Blessings.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
7 Feb 16
Last night at a church dinner we had four little girls aged two through seven playing with card board blocks. They built a house and we're having a terrific time.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
5 Feb 16
They are plastic now. I have seen some really cute Christmas ornaments made from spools....next Christmas.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
5 Feb 16
Buttons were a good diversion, but I have to supervise the little ones a bit too closely to give them free rein.
