I inherited some from my great-aunt. i made a lamp from a large canning jar that was my Grandmother's. My DH bought a lamp kit from Lowes and I filled the jar with spools, some with thread and the empty ones I wrapped scraps of fabric around. Threw some old buttons in there too. For the shade, i wrapped fabric strips vertically. It turned out really cute and if I want to change the color scheme, I just replace the fabric. I posted a picture on another thread, "What do you do with empty thread spools" page 3- if you want to see it.