Trash to Crafts: Make a 3D Picture with Used Toilet Paper Rolls

The following craft is a fun way to make a visually appealing project without having to spend much money on materials from a craft store. For this inexpensive craft idea, you will be making a three-dimensional picture of flowers that you and/or your children can decorate in many different ways.

Materials Needed:

2-4 empty toilet paper rolls
Cardboard (from a box, the back of a drawing pad, Etc.)
Wrapping tissue paper, or scrap construction paper
Sheets of construction paper to cover the cardboard
Glue
Scissors
Paint (water color works well)

Instructions

The cardboard you use in this craft is going to be the background of the picture. So first, you'll want to glue your favorite colored construction paper to it.

Next, you will get your soon-to-be recycled toilet paper rolls and cut them into flowers. You'll do this by cutting fringe all around the edges of each side of the toilet paper roll craft. When you fold the slits back, you'll have flower petals. If you cut the slits shorter on one side then the other, you'll create a more interesting flower. It's also a good idea to ensure that the actual cuts on one side are not in line with the cuts on the other side. That way, when you fold the "fringe" back, you'll have alternating petals.

After you fold the petals up, you should have what looks like a cardboard flower with no middle. Now, you can paint the flower any color you wish. You can experiment with doing more then one color. For the example in the photograph with this article, I painted the smaller slits orange and the bigger ones yellow. Kids like doing this part of the craft. If you have smaller children who are unable to use scissors, having them paint the flowers over some large tarp will help to keep your house clean and your little ones involved with this crafty endeavor.

Let the paint dry on your flowers then consider where you will want them on your picture. You can mark the center of them on the paper because that will be covered up with the inside of your flower. To make this craft even more interesting, you can decorate (or have your kids do it), the background with leaves, grass, or even a distant horizon. You can do this part of the craft by using the same paint you used to paint the flowers, or you can use leftover yarn, scrap paper, or other items from around the house (junk drawers are fun places to find unusual craft items). You can also paint stems where your flowers will be so that the stems appear to go behind the flowers once they are glued into place.

Finally, glue your flowers into place, then glue tissue paper into the center of them. You can also use scrap paper for the center of your flowers. For scrap paper, you can try crumpling it up, opening it, then crumpling it again until it feels more like tissue paper.

Let the glue dry on your picture before hanging it up. You can tap a piece of string onto the back of it so that it is easy to hang.

Other Ideas Using Recycled Toilet Paper Rolls

Instead of flowers, you can create lion faces, stars, the sun. You can also make the flowers into plastic bag holders by stuffing plastic grocery bags into them instead of tissue paper. You can hang the picture in the bathroom where you are most likely to use the plastic bags for small trash cans. To do that, just ensure the slits are a bit smaller then usual so that there is more room for the bag.

Overall, not only can you save money on craft items, but you decrease the amount of trash you are putting into landfills by finding a creative way to recycle a household object. Be sure to use other household items that you would otherwise throw into the trash (clean items, of course) so that you can maximize your savings, creativity, and environmental stewardship.