I save the plastic spools and make them into "necklaces" foe the kids. They love hanging around when I'm sewing and they feel they are part of the project. When Nick was small he "helped" me sew and found a "magic button" that he carried around. I managed to convince him that if we sewed it to his blanket we would always have it. After some tricky negotiations we got it sewed to the blanket. I have been keeping my Jo-Ann fabric receipts as they show how much you "have saved"!!!