A student gifted me with a box of antique thread spools - and during these 'slow-paced' days, I found them and turned them into this mobile for my Sewing Studio with motivation from my crafty sister. You can do the same...and I've even put the leftover spools up on my website in 3 different collections: each a Baker's Dozen for $12. Here's my mobile.
The base is a wire wreath frame I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics. Using some fabric strips: both bias and straight grain cut, I just started wrapping and knotting.
An EZ Threader makes getting the fabric strips through the spools 'easy peasy'. You can see this was an 'easy chair' project! My mobile had some of the old silk buttonhole twist spools - and yes, I used them all in My mobile.
To create the 3 vertical strips that hang the mobile from the ceiling hook, I asked my sewing machine to 'hold' 3 strips as I braided them together.
The only 'hard' thing about this is keeping the tension uniform as you braid. It's also fun to braid with 5 strands - something I teach my students. You can learn that skill HERE.
There is an antique tool known as a Third Hand Clamp - or sometimes I think it's called a Sewing Bird. It looks like the picture below - so you might want to keep an eye out for one of these if you're a sewing tool collector.
Honestly, just adding spools and knots below to hold them in place is about all there was to this project. I'd love to see some variations that you come up with. Find the 3 'Baker's Dozen' Antique Spool Collections I have available in the Gifts for Sewists Department at my website HERE. Have fun!