Throwback Thursday Craft – Spirograph

Today we’re going to go waaaay back to the 1980s. Those were some good years. Big hair, mullets, matching sock colors to shirt…I could go on and on. {slight eyeroll}.

But instead of a throwback on fashion, how about a throwback on crafts? Who remembers some of their first “crafts”?  Activities that inspired creativity, and kept you out of mom and dad’s hair?

Spirograph

I remember one of mine was Spirograph. A series of different sized plastic circles with numbered holes in them that you would place inside another circle and make designs.  If you never had one, this makes total sense, right?

Here’s what I’m talking about.

We had a small set that we played with pretty regularly and went through a fair share of colored pens and lots of paper.

Somewhere along the line, this set came into our possession. Wowza!

The Good Old Days

The hours we spent playing with this were just……priceless. Ahhhh, just to think back to that time when my biggest care was which plastic circle I was going to use…..which was usually the one my brother was using!

There was a booklet of tutorials on how to make different designs, and how to combine designs to be a pro-spirographer. Something we all aspired to be, but alas, life got in the way.

Modern Times

I pulled this out a few years ago when I was making a card.  Yes, my mom and dad actually kept ours. I made a Spirograph design using a hot pink pen and used the design as my flower.  I added some printed green rickrack as the stem, and a bow here and some colorful paper there, and the card was complete….and unique!

Here are a few designs that can be made with it.

And just last year I bought a Spirograph set for my nephew, because that’s what a good aunt who was raised during the 80s does!  Where would you find one these days you might ask?  I’m sure they can be found online.  I found mine in a local hobby shop. 

The beauty of that gift was that I wasn’t even specifically looking for that.  I was just on the prowl for a good gift for my 6 year old nephew. I came across it and KNEW that’s what I was getting him. Needless to say that boy is in good hands when it comes to aunts and crafts. {wink}

I can’t wait to do a few more throwbacks to some of my other crafting firsts.

What was one of your first crafts? Drop me a note in the comments. Better yet, go dig it out and share it with your son, daughter, niece, nephew, or any other bright-eyed human being. Or add it to a birthday or Christmas list for that creative kid on your list!