Let the Good Times Roll: Scrunch or Fold Your Way Through These Toilet Roll DIYs

Ah, the humble core of the toilet roll. Crisp cardboard, sturdy in shape, convenient in size and abundant in houses. Is it any wonder that the internet is awash with people exploring new and interesting ways to reuse the roll in their crafty pursuits? 

We all hear the siren call of these eminently recyclable tubes from time to time whether you fear a rainy day where you are inexplicably beset a class of kindy kids in need of entertainment, or just occasionally find your hand hovering over the yellow bin with a whisper in the back of your mind saying, “This might be the exact thing I need for some project I know yet not.” 

Finally you can give in to your trash hoarding instincts because, with help from toilet paper professionals and recycling enthusiasts Who Gives A Crap we’ve scoured the web and put together our top six crafty toilet roll DIYs. By the end you’ll probably be so excited to get started you’re going to want some more toilet rolls to hand so it’s good news that Who Gives a Crap is offering $10 off your first purchase of a TP subscription!

Scroll on to get your roll on!

Stamps / Fabric Printing 

Toilet rolls can be easily manipulated and secured into a wide variety of shapes for durable paint stamps. Circles, squares, stars, love hearts, flowers and four leaf clovers – the possibilities are endless. With the use of some fabric paint, you can stamp a repeating pattern on cloth to make your very own unique fabric printed T-shirt, tote or this adorable heart stamped bag from Practically Functional!  

Green Gardening

There are a plethora of ways the green-minded green thumb can utilise the toilet roll in tending to their garden, as WGAC enumerates. A toilet roll is the perfect cosy starter home for tiny seedlings, but they also make solid and stalwart portable planters that can be used to safely transport flourishing flora and planted directly into the soil where they disintegrate neatly. Even when your precious plant is all grown up and blooming, the rolls can help out as plant guards and protectors against pests like moths and cutworms.

Pom Pom Maker 

Feel the pom pom power flowing through you with this easy method of creating perfect pom poms using nothing more than yarn and two toilet rolls! The secret sauce for this method is, a la the wisdom of Heathered Nest, to notch one of the toilet rolls and secure your knot, tying thread in there so it doesn’t get lost during the pom pom process. Then wind your yarn thickly around the two rolls, tie, snip and trim for fantastically fluffy palm-sized pom poms!

Pillow Box 

When giving a small but doubtlessly thoughtful and possibly even expensive gift, what’s the best way to wrap it? Well, you could use this ingenious method from Easy Peasy Creative Ideas of creating a sweet and stylish little pillow box out of old TP rolls. Quick and easy to pull together and endlessly customisable, these pillow boxes put a sweet handmade finishing touch on any heartfelt gift. 

Organisation Station

The steadfast shape and strength of the toilet roll can make it a helpful organisational tool in the all too often messy craft room. Boldly barefaced or artfully decorated like in Apartment Therapy’s household hack, these bad boys can be used to label those pesky miscellaneous cords and keep them from tangling together in the ‘random cords and stuff’ drawer. So strikingly simple you’ll marvel you never thought of it before, a sliced open roll is perfect for stopping gift paper rolls from unravelling all over the place. And given its original purpose, it’s perhaps no surprise that a TP roll is ideal for rewinding and storing loose or frogged yarn. 

French Knitting Nancy 

Finger knitting or french knitting is a simple style of loom knitting frequently used to introduce children to the basics of fibre craft – back when knitting was something almost everyone knew how to do. Back in the day, the hottest toy on the shelves was the Knitting Nancy, a wooden doll with spikes in her head and holes in her feet allowing you to knit through her torso. Incredibusy teaches you to make your very own Knitting Nancy out of a toilet paper roll, four paddle pop sticks and some tape! An awesome introduction to the nifty world of knitting and an eloquent example of the artful adaptability of the toilet roll. They have the range, darling! 

This article was created in collaboration with our friends at Who Gives A Crap. For more craft ideas from around your bathroom, check out their back catalogue of ingenious ideas here and get $10 off your first subscription purchase at Who Gives A Crap. This article includes affiliate links. Peppermint only ever includes businesses and brands that align with our values.