Crafts With Thread Cones
Thread cones are sturdy cardboard pieces that are made too well to just throw away. They make excellent foundations for creating useful and decorative items. The cone shape allows them to be free-standing, making them useful for crafts that will be placed on tables or shelves. Ask a garment manufacturer, tailor or dry cleaner for some of these empty cones, or buy them online or in a crafts store.
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Pine Christmas Tree
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Put the cone wide-end down on the table and you have the shape of a Christmas tree. Glue on pine needles to give the tree lush foliage. Use small beads to make a garland. Place small beads on the ends of straight pins and poke them into the cardboard cone to make ornaments.
Lighted Christmas Tree
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Pierce the cardboard with tiny holes and paint the spool green. Paint tiny designs all over the spool to imitate ornaments, garland and candy canes. Place the spool on top of a flameless tea light so the pierced holes will glow with light.
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Easy Lighthouse
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Create lighthouses using cones and the squeeze tops from dish detergent bottles. These tiny replicas can get as detailed as your imagination allows. Paint stripes, a door and windows on the cone, just as you would find on a real lighthouse. For a more detailed look, paint a tiny spiral staircase all along the outside. Spray paint the dish detergent top and glue it to the top of the spool to resemble the light.
Paper Mache Lighthouse
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Use the spool as a foundation for a paper mache miniature lighthouse. The paper mache will allow you to give the lighthouse more detail. Make a lighthouse base out of a plastic cup and put a flameless tea light under it with a hole cut for the light to shine through to the top of the cone. Use cut toothpicks to structure the light on top, leaving a large opening on all sides for the light from the tea light to shine through.
Ice Cream Cone Ornament
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Cover the cone with fabric. Fill with pillow stuffing and top the cone with stuffing in the shape of a scoop of ice cream. Glue a different patterned piece of fabric over the top, then tuck and glue the edges inside the top of the cone. Glue a loop of thread as a hanger inside the edge of the cone. Use these on a small Christmas tree or on a small branch of pine in a vase.
Angel Ornament
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Paint a cone and use it as the angel's body. Make a head and wings out of construction paper and glue a loop of thread to it for a hanger. This simple and inexpensive craft can be a classroom art lesson around the holidays.
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