Scrappin’ Green: Tips for Eco Friendly Memory Keeping- 8th Edition

Today we welcome scrapbooker Elisha Drewery. Elisha has a wonderful idea about repurposing ribbon spools! Read on if you’d like to create something beautiful!!

I am always looking for ways to repurpose or reuse an item. Since I am a self proclaimed ribbon addict, there is no shortage of ribbon spoolies at my house. I am also a lover of mini albums. So when I discovered this idea of using ribbon spoolies to create a mini album, founded by Vicki Chrisman, I had to give it a try! This ribbon spoolie album was created for my Mom and hangs proudly in her home!



To create a ribbon spoolie album separate the outer circles from the inner ring, sand the inner ring to remove any leftover glue or paper, then cover all sides with your favorite patterned paper.

Next use tacky glue to attach the inner ring back to the bottom circle, then punch four holes as shown to run your ribbon through, to attach the top circle back to the spool.

Run your ribbon through the holes, tie into bows and you will be ready to embellish!

To complete the album (shown in the top three photos of this article), attach a 12 inch ribbon to the inside bottom of the inner ring using glue. Cut 12 circles the size of the inside of the inner ring and glue the circles front to back with the ribbon sandwiched in between the circles. You will now how 6 circles, front and back, to attach your photos and embellishments to. I also tied a knot in the bottom of the ribbon and added a loop to the lid of the album so I could close the album for display.
It can also be used as a trinket box, as shown.


I also took it one step further and used the top and bottom circles of ribbon spools to create a circle mini album. I covered both fronts and backs of the circles with patterned paper and bound them together with a metal ring embellished with ribbon.

Ribbon spoolies, once taken apart, also make great circle templates.
Thank you so much for letting me share these tips with you today! I hope it gave you new ways to turn a ribbon spoolie that would have otherwise been thrown in the trash can into a treasure!