it’s not every day that you find a clever way to reuse something from the bathroom, but tali from growing up creative had a simple but beautiful idea that lets you reuse toilet paper rolls. whether you’re looking for a fun afternoon craft to do with little ones or just want to find a way upcycle old toilet paper rolls, this is a perfect afternoon project. i’m tempted to spray paint them in metallic colors to make a holiday-style arrangement…
CLICK HERE for the full instructions from tali below!
Materials:
Toilet Paper rolls
Scissors
White glue
Stapler
Paint + brushes
Glitter
Laundry pins
Steps:
1. Crush paper roll
2. Cut into approximately 5 equal parts don’t have to be exact
3. Place the rolls on a flat surface creating a desired pattern. spend time trying different compositions and patterns.
4. Glue where rolls are touching, hold with laundry pins to dry. You may use a stapler as an alternative, what ever is easier. I find that glue is easier for the younger kids.
5. You may paint and add sparkles. Sprinkle the glitter on the wet paint, this way it will sticks and you wont need any glue.
6. You may expend the pattern in to an organic cell growth. The challenge is when to say STOP.
CLICK HERE for more images from Tali’s project! Thanks, Tali!
Wow. That is the best thing I’ve seen in a while. BRILLIANT.
very ingenious
Es un efecto que queda genial y muy sencillo de hacer. Y ya no digamos si los forras de papel de algun motivo.
Besujis!!!
You know, that may just be a hidden weapon in the battle for potty training.
What a fantastic way of recycling and creating art. You really wouldn’t know it’s made out of toilet rolls either!
It looks like there are a few nails holding this in place on the wall. Is that correct?…I wonder what the best way to attach it to the wall is…
I LOVE this idea. I’m already thinking of ways I can incorporate this into a winter craft for my students…maybe snowflakes or a wreath! Very cool…love the suggestion about metallic paint too.
great idea!
I knew there had to be something creative to make out of all those toilet paper rolls that get thrown away!
looks beautiful
So clever. I am going to do this in my office as an installation behind my desk. Thanks for the great inspiration!
Wow, that is pretty cool!
What a neat way to recycle something so unloved, and make into a work of art.
that’s pretty cute!
When I was about in 3rd grade we made snowflake ornaments from toothpicks, toilet paper rolls and lots of paint and glitter. It is still one of the best handmade ornaments that I have ever made! And I cherish that memory. I like this very much! Thanks for sharing. Enjoy the day! Erin
Shutup!! What an awesome idea and a great way to recycle!!
Awesome! It’s stuff like this that makes me bummed I didn’t think of it! :)
thanks G for posting this, and thanks everyone for all your comments. this was a fun project to make.
I hope you all enjoy this too.
paper rolls will never look the same to me.
tali
as for attaching to the wall, i did use a couple of nails, another option is getting a plywood back, paint it and glue the art work on to the background.
YAY Tali! this reminds me of the window displays you used to do when we were still in school. glad to see to see you being recognized for your work. congrats.
What a fun idea. Thanks for sharing. You have a very inspirational blog by the way. It’s great!
this is great! it would especially beautiful on a wall that gets some sun – i imagine the shadows can be gorgeous.
thanks for sharing!
I love this! I was trying to think of affordable ways to spruce up our office decor. This is perfect! I love the idea of using metallic spray paint.
That is awesome! I will have to start collecting toilet paper rolls. I love it!
I worked for Anthorpologie for a few years and had the pleasure of helping out with and installation incredibly similar to this one. The only difference is that we used coffee cup sleeves instead of toilet paper rolls. To give a nice effect of color you can dab the ends in the paint of your choice! So pretty!
In the 1950s, the designer Russel Wright created a window/wall between rooms with toilet paper roll sections and resin at his house and studio, Manitoga in Garrison, NY. It is really cool–you can visit the house and check it out–
http://www.russelwrightcenter.org/redesign/indexRWA09.html
i canNOT believe this is from tp rolls.
totally cute
I LOVE this! I just got the strangest look from my roommate when I asked her to not throw away her next roll… hahaha!
This is the coolest idea ever!!! I love how this site is always coming up with great ideas like this to share!
This is a great idea and reminds me of Tara Donovan’s work. I saw her exhibit last year at the ICA where we did a huge installation using metallic film/paper of some sort. Beautiful! Check out this sire for an image. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/09/23/arts/20080923_TARA_SLIDESHOW_6.html
That. Is. Amazing!!!
Love the concept but anyone else concerned about the germ factor?
For a Mad Tea Party I used toilet paper and paper towel rolls for the stalks of paper mache mushrooms. Everything can be reincarnated!
That is so cool!
for no apparent reason at all (until now), i’ve been keeping toilet rolls for the past 6 months. now i just have to create a piece without my partner realising i intend to display toilet rolls on our walls. :)
If only there could be such wonderful and EASY DIYs all the time… so creative and inventive a use of things we buy and use every day! Thanks Tali… and thank you d*s for being a daily inspiration!
Great idea!
Everytime a roll gets empty, I always think ” Now what can I make with this” Now I know!
Thank-you!!
@joan – germs schmerms. no way jose. we worry too much about silly things like germs – i think this is a wonderful idea
Love this! How innovative :-)
yay i’ve been saving up my toilet paper tubes for this project, but lost the link. Thank you design sponge for reuniting me!
Pure genius. I’m excited to try.
I’m working on a holiday version of this right now! I’m wrapping the pieces using mod podge as adhesive for the xmas ribbons we’ve had for ages. The ribbons give a nice festive shine; and when you put five red ones together in a star, they resemble poinsettias!
I’m planning to try doing snowflakes with white ribbon, and possibly some kind of wreath for our apartment door.
Oh, and if you want to make them green, I can vouch for floral tape. It works great and doesn’t need any extra adhesive!
This is a great great great project! Love it tons and want to do the holiday version w/my kids!
marvellous..
just GREAT – i love it…
I always love that kind of creativity. The wall art is beautiful and simple.
Did this. Turned out great. Thanks so much DS for an easy and free way to get some art up on my walls while I am broke student!
LOVE this idea! i’m saving up my empty rolls right now! thank you!
I’m really excited that such a simple (and cheap!) project looks so neat in finished product! I’d like to try this for a gaping space on my dining room wall…any ideas for stiffening up the cardboard so it’s not fragile? Is there any sort of spray shellac or something I could apply to the cardboard before painting? Thanks!
Thanks SO much – we started a “chain” of this design on an empty wall in the basement game room where we hang out the most. Guests are invited to add to it, so we have a funky kind of “memory wall” thing going – we love it!
Regarding previous comments – I hate to think that someone would skip this FAB project over a germ concern – use paper towel rolls instead of tp rolls if that makes you feel better!
love love love it!!! my creativity is jealous of yours!!
This is great – I’m the director of a non-profit art education center and we do a lot of after school programming where we have a limited supply budget – this would be perfect!
This will also be great for all the empty rolls of wrapping paper after Christmas!
This is awesome! I never thought that toilet rolls will be an impressive wall art. Thanks for sharing!
Ok, so I went ahead and made one… And it was so fun! Its smaller than the one shown, but I want to make more!
Here’s the post:
http://bluknotsoriginals.blogspot.com/2010/07/latest-creations.html
This is such a nice project,and also one way of recycling products.If all people are knowledgeable enough to create stuff like this I’m sure many will gain profit.
I did it too!
http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2010/07/diy-project-toilet-paper-roll-wall-art.html
OMG! Amazing. Love it.
This is great! I made mine in flower shapes. How do you suggest I attach them to the wall?
About the germs, i’ve seen quite a few times on the internet that the tubes can be sterilized with a quick blast in a microwave!
Hi! i just love the idea. I’m excited to try it out.
This is just great,thanks for posting !!!
Ok, I did it. It took a few months of saving up tp rolls, but this installation has been in the back of my mind since this post. I skipped the glue and just used tiny paper clips between each contact point. Works great, went together so fast and you can’t even see them beyond a few feet away.
Toilet paper roll start collecting!
This are impressive,who can even think that you can re use the holder of tissue paper and make it a wall decor.Truly being creative have a great sense to make our surroundings look beautifully.
A very unique sense, Our creativity to change our place or make things different is one way of decorating and adds life to our walls.Metal wall art gives some accent view to your wall. Your idea is so ingenious.
LOVE it!!! Thanks!!!
I just made two of these, and it was so easy and fun, and a really great and cheap way to add some pizzazz to my walls!
any ideas on how to get the remnants off the rolls? having
a bit of trouble with that…
What a brilliant idea! It was so easy to do. You don’t have
to spend much money by doing this, you just have to recycle those
toilet paper rolls. Good job!
I also made a connection with this to Tara Donovan’s work!
Super!!!!!
Thanks for the tutorial! Just made a pair of these for my bedroom & they filled up my wall space perfectly!
Como dijo Tali…no volveré a mirar como antes los rollos de papel…realmente son muy creativos, buenisima idea.
Love this! Used tape, which I would not recommend, looks a little sloppy up close. But I love how it looks in my room. Thanks! Here’s my version: https://picasaweb.google.com/113875267369377589848/Crafts?authkey=Gv1sRgCI_4i_2htv6LiwE#
Wow, this is gorgeous. I never would’ve known this was made from t.p. rolls! =) Found you via http://kristanlynne.blogspot.com.
Oooooh, I made something like this!!! But it is way more detailed.
http://shealynns-faerie-shoppe.blogspot.com/2011/05/fake-wrought-iron-art.html
How incredibly brilliant! I can’t wait to try it, but I’m going to cover my rolls with scrapbooking paper that suits my color combo in my craft room (hot pink, zebra, black & white). Thanks so much for the AWESOME idea!!!
I have LOADS of toilet paper rolls. I save them up and then donate them to a school, but don’t have anyone that I know of in need of them right now. So, my daughter and I will get to work on this project – love it!
I really like this idea. I looks organically chic!
Wow this is fantastic! I am looking for ideas for a headboard for a guest room and this is going to be one of the top ideas. Thanks
i love tp wall art. so clever! and noone can tell what it is made of! this is what i created for our home, http://bisozozo.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-first-artwork.html. hope you like it.
This is the best i have seen in a while,this is also a must try for me.
PAINT THIS when it’s done. You can paint it white, or colors to match your decor, sometimes crafts/paint stores have certain spray paints on sale/clearance, or my favorite spray is chrome, because it has such a neat look to it.
Dear Grace @ Design Sponge:
Lovely!
@Joan: Paper towel rolls do the same thing without the “ick” factor.
Also check out this Russian site- select English at the top menu, then scroll down to see the cut rolls:
http://www.kokokokids.ru/2011/10/fall-art.html#more
I had my young group (K-2 It’s a small school) make a ripped paper collage in fall colors. Tomorrow we will stamp over that with cut up towel rolls in more fall colors (just like in the picture on this site.) I have 2 x3 inch cards cut from old file folders to stamp the veins and stems in the same colors as the leaves. Partners will do up to 10 stampings in one color, then rotate around the tables to another color. I’m very excited about this!
Leila
A question please. What type of paint do you recommend?
Hi this is sort of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you need to by hand code with
HTML. I’m starting a web log soon but don’t have any coding skills and so i desired to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
for complete directions doesn’t take you any where.
Love this! I volunteer with a couple of after school programs teaching art to kids and this is perfect for them. Thanks for the project!