Way back in the earliest days of my blog, I turned a thrifted spice rack into an organizer for my Craft Room. At the time when I made that project, I had set aside the spice shakers from each of the jars. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with them, but figured it didn’t hurt to hang on to them for a little while. And as time marched on, I started thinking they looked like film reels. And since I love anything in miniature, I thought I might transform them into movie reel decor.
To refresh your memory, here is the spice rack organizer that I made…
And the shaker tops that sat in my craft room this entire time, looking more and more like movie reels.
Well, my friends, the time to upcycle them has finally arrived. Let’s see if my craft idea for movie film decor could come to life!
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Making the Movie Reel Decor
First, I gathered the shaker tops and gave them a couple of light coats in my favorite silvery spray paint (ironically the same color I used on the spice rack).
A typical movie reel is silver, right? Or at least in the silver family.
Next, I cut out small dime-sized circles of black felt. I wanted each “ film reel” to look like it had a roll of film inside the reel- hence the felt.
Then, I glued each circle to the center of my spice shakers.
After that, I applied the daintiest line of hot glue to the perimeter lip of a shaker top and set a second one (without felt) on top, lining up the holes as precisely as possible.
A-ha! Starting to look like a film reel or movie reel decor, right before my very eyes!
One last step: a strip of “film” around the outside, to truly look like movie reel decor.
So, I decided to salvage a piece of narrow tape from a cassette! Thrift stores are teeming with them, so I decided to go with a classic from my wonder years- the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing.
I just LOVE upcycling pieces of old tech, like cassette tapes. Relics of previous technology can REALLY clutter thrift store shelves. So, it’s always satisfying to put them to good reuse, isn’t it?
Movie Reel Decor from Spice Shakers
Instead of sticking a pencil in the cassette holes to wind the tape back in, I gently tugged it out. What a travesty that would have been in 1987! But times have indeed changed.
Lastly, I used the edge of a glue stick to attach a strip of cassette tape to the exterior, like film. And just like that, I had an adorable miniature film reel.
The perfect decor (or party favor?) for a movie night, an Oscar party, or even Christmas ornament gifts for a movie lover. Perhaps this project is a wee bit silly…but they turned out awfully cute!
Talk about creative reuse, eh? And just think, I almost threw away all those spice shakers…
Speaking of Christmas ornaments, guess what? A movie producer contacted me because he used this upcycling idea to make a movie tree for his office! Isn’t that fabulous??
Image credit: Christopher Dyer of Dirt Dog Productions.
If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for movie reel decor, then you may also be interested in what I used to make this industrial side table, too!
Craft on!
S
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Sarah Ramberg is the owner of Sadie Seasongoods, a website that celebrates all things secondhand. From upcycling ideas and thrifted decor to vintage-centric travel itineraries, Sadie Seasongoods is a one-stop shop for anyone who loves thrifting and approachable repurposing ideas. Sarah is also the author of “Crafting with Flannel” and has been featured in numerous media outlets and magazines.
What a great and creative idea! I am so impressed with your ability to see how you could use these two things to make these great little Oscar party props!
Clevvver! I love this idea. Might use this for my Oscars party 🙂
That’s so adorbs. My hubby and I had our first drunken karaoke to Time of Our Life, so the fact that you featured that is so much more amaze!
I LOVE that story, Stephanie!!!
What a darling idea! Love it! Great tutorial. Thank you very much for joining in the celebration of #purebloglove, we enjoy having you each week. I hope to see you on Thursday at 8PM, EST through Sunday night. ~Cydnee
What a clever idea. I love this! Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty – we hope to see you again next week. 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
I love this!!! Found you through the link party at Club Narwhal today! (I linked up there, also.) This is a great idea because it’s something I’d actually do… lol.
This is such a cute idea! I’m going to save those tops and make some of these next year. Thanks for sharing at Best of the Weekend! 🙂
🙂 So glad you liked them!
How fun and creative! Love this, Sadie!
Aww! This is so cute! I love this idea! Sharing! Thanks for sharing at Totally Terrific Tuesday last week! Can’t wait to see what you have been working on this week!
Come on……..this is adorable. Great job?
Heehee, thank you, Scotty!
I’m really late to the party on this! Great post, and great idea. I’m an independent filmmaker, and I’ve put together a “movie” themed xmas tree this year. I wanted mini film reel ornaments, but, those don’t seem to exist. Now, thanks to you, I can make my own!! One thing, though, I don’t have many spice jars around (not much of a cook). I did, however, find a place online where I can buy just the tops… for 6¢ a piece. If other readers need this info (like I did), here’s the link:
https://packagingoptionsdirect.com/43-mm-round-pp-natural-5-hole-sifter-fitment
I ordered a lot, and since film reels come in different colors (commonly silver), but also gray, bronze, black, and various shades in-between those colors, I’ll be painting them in those various colors colors and shades to add a bit of variety to the tree.
I love this so much. Thank you for posting!!
Chris!!! I’m so thrilled to hear this. Yes, this is a crazy-old project of mine and never got much traction as far as popularity goes. But I feel redeemed now that someone in the film making business has seen them and approved of them. 😉 I hope you’ll send me a photo of yours when you’re done!!
Done! It took me a while to make this as I know not how to properly wield a hot-glue gun, but I’m happy with the end product. Here’s a link to a picture of the finished desktop Holiday Film Tree: https://postimg.cc/5jYc0q7h
Okay, I have them done! First off, those were a bit challenging to make… I’m not much of a crafter, and I apparently don’t know the proper way to wield a hot-glue gun. But I think, in the end, they look really… well, GREAT! What a wonderful idea, and I really love it. I don’t know how to add a photo in this reply, so here’s a link to a photo of my Holiday Film Tree:
https://postimg.cc/5jYc0q7h
Ok, that is AMAZING, Chris!!! You knocked the reel ornaments out of the park and your tree is positively sublime!!! Would you be interested in my including your photo in my post? I’d be happy to link to your production company and if you want to add a watermark to your photo. I just want to show it off because it’s so amazing!
By all means, please do! I did, however, update the photo as there was some distracting papers hanging on the wall. close to the tree. I replaced that with my production company logo. Sadly, that means I had to remove the old one so the above links will no longer work! Here’s the new link (below), and please feel free to use this picture any way you see fit. 🙂
https://i.postimg.cc/LXscJnSS/filmtree.jpg