My Top 5 Fun and Almost Necessary Quilling Tools

A few days ago I posted about my top 5 necessary quilling tools.  Those are the ones I use every single time and I wouldn’t want to be without.  But there are other tools that are *almost* necessary that I use all the time, and just some favorite fun tools that I LOVE having.  So I want to highlight those as well!

1. A fine tip or needle tip glue bottle/dispenser – This supply almost made it to my other list!  I use my fine tip glue bottle every single time I do quilling.  It is just SO much easier to squeeze a tiny bit of glue right onto the paper strip rather than squeezing a blob of glue onto a surface and using a toothpick or needle tool to place it onto the paper strip.  There ARE some times when I need to do that, like when I dip an entire piece into a thin layer of glue, and other times as well.  But 95% of the time I use my little fine tip bottle and it makes quilling SO much easier.  I used to use a tacky type glue in mine, and it would get clogged fairly easily which is annoying.  But for the past few years I’ve used PPA, which is excellent in it.  On the occasions that the tip is clogged I just need to poke it with a needle and all is cleared.  With the tacky glue it would take SO long to get it unclogged, I hate that.  So if you are having trouble with your fine tip glue bottle, try changing glues!  Click here to read the post with lots of photos of the actual glue bottle that I use.
   
2. Border Buddy – As frequent readers will know, I really enjoy making paper quilled jewelry.  And some of the types of jewelry I love making involve open rolls (paper wrapped around an item of some diameter, larger than a normal quilling tool.  I used to use all sorts of objects to wrap my strips around.  Odd bottle, lip gloss containers, pill bottles, pens, etc. etc.  When I got my border buddy, that changed!  I LOVE my border buddy!  Not only can I make circles of many different diameters, but I can easily make even triangles and squares as well. So fun!  Click here to view a post about using a border buddy, and here and here for some jewelry tutorials using the border buddy.  Don’t have one?  Click here for a post on what you can use/make if you don’t have one yet.  Told you I love the concept of this tool!
   
3. Mini Mold – Here is another fun tool!  This one is perfect for making paper quilled jhumka earrings (click here, here, and here, for free tutorials).  Of course it is also awesome for all sorts of 3D quilling projects.  If you don’t have one you can use other spherical objects such as rubber balls, marbles, or just use your fingers.  But for ease of use I like using the mini mold.
   
4. Fine Tip Scissors
   – This is a tool that I didn’t have for a very long time.  If I needed to cut anything I’d use my regular paper scissors.   When I bought myself a pair I didn’t know why I waited so long!  They come in super handy when you are in the middle of a project and something goes wrong with a strip of paper, just stick in your scissors and snip it off.  I do not use them every time I do quilling.  I usually tear my strips instead of cutting, as it makes gluing easier.  However, there are some times when you need a cut edge, or when it’s just easier.   For those times, I’m SO glad I have this little one!
   
5. Circle Size Ruler – This is another tool that I do not use on a daily basis.  But when I need it, I am SO glad I have it!  It is perfect for traveling with my quilling when I want to minimize what I bring along with me.  I use rulers regularly to measure strips for my work, so this doubles as that as well.
   

So those are my 5 fun and almost necessary quilling tools that I wouldn’t want to be without!  After making this list I realize that 3 out of the 5 are products almost exclusively distributed by Quilled Creations (the scissors and fine tip bottle you can get from several different brands).  This is not intentional, and I was certainly not paid to endorse the product or anything (and all of these supplies were bought by myself) but it is interesting to see which brands are coming out with the more unique and new products.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all the big quilling brands, and have tools/supplies from them all (my oldest ones and still going strong are from Lake City Craft).  I guess quilling is like any craft – to stand out you have to have some unique and new products.

What are some of your favorite, but maybe not necessary, quilling tools?

Feel free to leave any comments or questions, and stick around to view some more great pages here!

Click here to view free paper quilling tutorials!

Click here to view paper quilling tips and tricks!

Click here to view a list of places to buy quilling supplies around the world!

Click here to view some of my own quilling projects, with tips so you can make your own if you’d like!

*All products and supplies in this post I purchased on my own.

*This post contains some affiliate links, and some non affiliate links.  If you purchase products through the affiliate links I get a small percentage (at no extra cost to you!).  I only link to products that I believe in and/or love to use myself.  Thank you for supporting my blog!