My mother made these for me as a child - in every color imaginable to suit my wardrobe. These are quick gifts or stocking stuffers … if you leave one end plain they can be used as bookmarks. Also if you thread them thru your shoes before working the springy part they make outrageous shoe laces.
My mother also used to glue ‘google eyes’ on some of them to turn them into snakes - now-a-days these are sold already pre-glued or such that you can sew them on for more security.