articles

Make Ornaments from Toilet Paper Tubes

By Jennifer Schorr December 2, 2015
Here are four easy ornaments your family can make out of empty toilet paper tubes and some craft materials.

Spiral Christmas Trees:
  1. First paint your toilet paper tubes green and let them dry.
  2. Cut the tubes in a spiral shape by starting at the bottom and cutting at an angle, going around and around until you get to the top.  I was able to make 2 trees from 1 empty tube.
  3. Decorate your trees with whatever you have on hand.  I used glitter, sequins and buttons.  I used a hot glue gun to attach the sequins and buttons, but glue dots would be an alternative if you are working with younger children.
  4. Glue a string, tied in a loop, at the top to hang it.
Decorative Star:
  1. Cut a toilet paper tube in half, and then cut from the top of the ring, down towards the bottom, leaving about a 1/2 inch uncut. Do this all around the outside of the tube, and then fold these outwards, forming the arms of the star.
  2. Paint the star and let it dry. (If you paint it white, it could be a snowflake.)
  3. Decorate with whatever craft supplies you have on hand, or decorate with more paint.
  4. Attach a string to hang it.
Poinsettia:
  1. Cut 1 tube into several loops.
  2. Paint these pieces red on the inside and outside of the ornament.  Feel free to add glitter to the wet paint to give your ornament some sparkle. Let everything dry.
  3. Using a hot glue gun or glue dots, attach the painted rings together to form the leaves of the poinsettia.
  4. Glue sequins to the middle, and attach a string for hanging.
Rudolph Ornament:
  1. Cut a toilet paper tube in thirds, and paint each one brown. Then let them dry.
  2. Wrap a brown pipe cleaner around one side of the tube, making sure the ends are even. Twist them by wrapping them around your finger to make them look like antlers.
  3. Glue on eyes and a nose, and attach a string for hanging it.