Tutorial: Toilet Paper Roll Trivet

It was destiny, plain and simple. You knew the toilet paper roll would show up here again. You knew I couldn't resist its curves and papery good looks much longer. You knew I'd dream up another something with it sooner or later.

You knew it, you wily thing.

So I made a trivet for holding hot things like pots and such. For instance, here is my TP roll trivet actively saving my table from the scalding teapot.

Nothing short of heroic, I'd say.

Would you like to see how I made it? Here I go.

Pretty self-explanatory, eh? You get the drift, I'm sure. But on the off-chance that you were wondering, you do need to cut up more than one TP roll to make a single trivet.  4 or 5 TP rolls cut into 1/4-inch (6mm) sections will do the trick for a one-layer trivet. Optionally, if you'd like to try a 2-layer trivet like the one pictured below, you'll need twice the amount of TP rolls and glue.

Note that I added cardboard circles to my trivets for strength. That is because they were hilariously floppy without them. I heartily suggest you support your trivet with a cardboard circle.

Isn't it nice to see the TP roll put to some practical use for a change? Yessiree, very practical indeed. I knew you had it in you, TP roll.

♥M

Video Tutorial: TP Roll Flower Gift Bow

Happy Saturday!

Lo's been re-teaching me how to edit video. Don't know if you remember my last attempt all those moons ago in the far distant past over here... Well, I'm back in the saddle. Here's my second little video tutorial.

A pre-Easter moving gift for you... Enjoy!

♥M

I should not fail to mention Lo's - that's my husband, btw - input in this project. Suffices to say, I would still be at the computer breaking things if it weren't for him saving me from myself. Thanks Lo. You are my love.

And thank you to Jill as well. For encouraging me back up on the video horse. So glad to have found you in the vast ether. Let's keep supporting each other ok?

Tutorial: Mini TP Roll Easter Baskets

Just in time for Easter, I'm making some tiny, wee, little Easter baskets entirely from recyclables. You in? Let's get to it!

For this craft you will need: a TP roll or two, empty cereal box OR tissue box, pair of scissors, regular hole punch, glue, pencil, ruler, exacto knife, and liquid acrylic paint and paintbrush (optional).

Step 1:   Using a ruler and pencil, find the center of the TP roll and mark a line all the way around it. With an exacto knife, cut the TP roll in two along that mark as below.

Step 2 (Optional):  Give your TP roll pieces a coat or two of liquid acrylic paint.

Step 3:  Mark a line 1/2 inch (13mm) from one edge of your TP roll piece. Using a hole punch, punch an even number of holes along this line all around the TP roll. I punched 16 holes in mine. Now punch the same number of holes along the other edge of the TP roll as shown below.

Step 4:  Take out your cereal box or tissue box, whichever you're choosing to use for your mini-basket, and cut off the end flaps. Now cut narrow strips along the length of either type of box. The strips must be able to slip into the holes in your TP roll so check to see if they fit before you continue. If you've punched 16 holes in the edges of your TP roll, you will need at least 9 cereal box or tissue box strips.

Step 5:  Gather your TP roll, narrow strips and glue. Curve the narrow strips by slowly running them between two fingers. Go slow to avoid getting a papercut. Ow.

Step 6:  At this point, note that you have a series of holes that is further from one edge of your TP roll than the other. See what I mean? The holes that are furthest from the edge indicate the top edge of the basket. Weave a strip through a top edge hole and through the corresponding bottom edge hole. Curve your strip around and weave it up through the holes on the opposite side of the TP roll. The ends of the strip should be jutting out of the top edge of the TP roll. Glue the strip to the TP roll as shown below.

Step 7:  This step is essentially the same as Step 6, but once you've woven the second strip into the holes immediately beside the first strip, you will curve it down and around the bottom and cross it over the first strip, weaving it into the adjacent holes on the other side. Repeat Step 7 for the remaining strips.

Step 8:  Trim the excess strip sections that jut out beyond the top of the basket. Take the last strip and form a handle by curving it and glueing it in place along the edge.

Every TP roll makes two mini-baskets. Make each basket unique by changing up the weave or paint colour, adding confetti embellishments, trimming the strips higher, or doing exactly as YOU please!

Come Easter morning, fill each mini-basket with a wee bag of mini-Easter eggs and hand them out to all of your favourite people.

I bet they'll be egg-cited!

♥M

P.S. HERE's a whole 'nother paper Easter basket for ya!

On a TP Roll!

I've been a busy little bee making a whack of toilet paper roll wreath Christmas ornaments (as per this tutorial here)!



These will be sold at a craft fair to raise money for two of my nieces' educational trips. I've never sold my crafts in this way before. It's a bit of an experiment... But fingers crossed that they go like dag-gum hotcakes!

♥M

Cardboard Tube Clip-On Shelf Labels

There really is no need to...

... because I'm about to show you one of the simplest crafts to ever grace this blog. In fact, I'm fairly confident in asserting that it is probably one of the simplest crafts EVER in the history of ALL crafts. So don't fret, no. Just sit back. Relax. Take a load off. This won't take but a minute.

I give you the...

Let us begin.

All you need is love. And some form of cardboard tube. Like a toilet paper roll say, or a kitchen roll tube.

Ascertain how you'd like to label your shelves. I needed to be able to locate my painting and drawing supplies at a moment's notice, so that's what I chose to write on one of my tubes.

Now, take your tube. And now take your pencil.

Am I going too fast? Are you able to keep up with the sheer complexity of this craft? Good.

Now, write your chosen words in pencil on your chosen tube. I chose the words "painting & drawing". Don't be afraid to get VERY specific. Your children will thank you when you order them - or in my case, ask them nicely - to go to the "Painting and Drawing Shelf" to get the #47 red.

Trace around your words with a fine-tipped Sharpie.

Note: Sharpie is a very famous brand of marker here in North America. They are literally everywhere.

If you like, you can also add colour to your words with paint or colourful markers as below.

Alternatively, if you are down and out, you may decide to forego the labels entirely, and instead give yourself a lively boost with a few choice words of wisdom. "Be brave" or "Laugh" for example. As you know, it is essential to occasionally laugh or be brave. Sometimes both at once. So these tubular concoctions work perfectly to jog a sluggish memory.

Once you're done with the words, flip the tube to the other side (or 180˚) and cut it lengthwise as below.

Finally, it is time to place your tube on the shelf edge. Gently pry open the back of the tube and clamp it in place. It will look like it is eating the shelf.  It isn't of course. It's only a card tube.

And now you will never forget where you put your stationery supplies. If you do, be brave and/or laugh. But don't come crying to me.

Have a lovely weekend!

♥M

Check out another lovely toilet roll craft right HERE!

Lost and Found

I tell you. When you tackle a heap such as the heap that overwhelmed my basement workroom for so many moons, you unearth some good stuff...

See the yarn basket above? The Boy and I made it together, oh, probably about 4 years ago now. I dug it out during the recent clean-up. Still going strong, eh? I think I'll use it to store zippers.

I also happened upon this little fellow below. An inuksuk stamp designed by The Boy, and used to make homemade invitations for his birthday a couple years ago. We carved it out of a foam meat tray. It made the sweetest invites. I can't believe I still have it...

And of course, there's the obligatory unfinished toilet paper roll craft. This one's been patiently waiting its turn in one of my numerous piles for... um... ever? I've brought it down to the workroom now where it stares at me incessantly. Maybe the crushing guilt will actually move me to complete it... One can only hope... I'll give you one guess as to what it might be.

And best of all, the newly-rescued "Giraffe with a Fork" mini-painting by my sweet daughter Dia! I love this quirky little painting. I could swear I had carefully stowed it in a safe and known-to-only-me location (under the printer) while it awaited framing. But when I went to retrieve it... gasp and double-gasp... it was gone! And it stayed gone for months despite my many searches. Needless to say, I was ecstatic but befuddled when I found it in a completely random spot (under the scanner) during the purge. I'm becoming convinced that the house centipedes moved it. I really wish they'd stop touching my stuff.

I can hardly wait for the next clean-up, almost. You never can tell what lovely lost treasures lie about...

♥M

Tutorial: Toilet Paper Roll Christmas Trees in July

There's a heat wave outside in case you hadn't melted yet.

And it's the middle of July.

Which can only mean one thing...

It's time for some cool Christmas-in-July craftiness! I'm thinkin' cold and winter and snow and glacial winds blowing through none other than evergreen Christmas trees. See what I mean? Okay then. Let's craft our boiling heads off.

Tutorial: Toilet Paper Roll Christmas Trees

You will need:

- 6 TP rolls
- acrylic paint in many colours  (I used red, aqua, and 4 shades of green)
- gesso (or white acrylic paint)
- an old picture frame [the opening of my little frame measures 4"x 6" (10cm x 15cm)]
- paper
- pencil
- paintbrush
- ruler
- glue (white/PVA)
- clothespins

Start by coating the 6 TP rolls with a layer of gesso. Allow it to dry nicely. Now paint each of your rolls in a different colour. Choose any colours you'd like. These are your Christmas trees after all! Allow the paint to dry thoroughly. Don't worry. In this heat, it won't take but a minute.

Now flatten the TP rolls and cut each in half lengthwise.

In the meantime, give your picture frame a light sanding, remove any dust, and then freshen it up with a few coats of paint. Allow the paint to dry.

Measure the height of the opening. Try to be as exact as possible. Now transfer that measurement to each half-TP roll. Trim the half-TP rolls along that measurement on the short side.

Check each half to make sure it fits nicely within your frame.

You will now divide your 12 half-TP rolls into 3 groups of 4. Divide your colours so that there will be some contrast in each group.

Start with the 1st group of 4 half-TP rolls. They will be cut according to the following diagram. The first (bottom) layer is left intact. The 2nd layer is cut on the right side only. The 3rd and 4th layers are cut on both sides.

Here's how you create the trees:

Make a small Christmas tree template as shown. Take a sheet of paper. Fold it in half. Draw out half a Christmas tree on the fold. The half Christmas tree should measure about 3-1/2 inches (9cm) tall by 1-1/4 inches (3cm) wide (at the bottom bough). Cut out the tree shape. Open up your template and transfer one half of the tree shape to either one OR both long edges of a half-TP roll. Cut out the tree shape(s) from the half-TP roll.

Note: When you cut your upper layer Christmas trees, use the same template but make your cuts a little deeper with each layer.

Apply glue to the cut shapes as shown below. Layer them one on top of the other with the uncut half-TP roll on the bottom and the others on top in the order shown below from left to right.

Clamp the layers together with clothespins. Allow the glue to dry.

Repeat the cutting and layering for the remaining 2 groups of 4 half-TP rolls. The following photo shows the component parts of each section in terms of colour and cuts.

Place all three completed sections in your frame. I didn't glue them into the frame. I simply placed them in there. They are held in the frame under their own compression.

There you are then... Sweet TP roll Christmas trees with a little three dimensional appeal, eh?

Are you feeling a teensy bit cooler now? Maybe a little? Hope so.

I wish you a fine weekend. And may the gentle breezes blow your way.

♥M

This post linked to Made by You Monday!

TP Roll Thistle Ornament Tutorial in the Shop!

Happy Saturday! I'm happy to report that the TP Roll Thistle Ornament PDF Tutorial is now available in my shop. This little guy has been in the works for eons. See, I conceived of him last summer as part of the Feast of the Flower series, and then it took me a while to get my act together and make up the PDF tutorial. Good things take time I figure...

The design has been flipped on its head, and updated with gorgeous colour and detailed step-by-step photo instructions. In terms of supplies, all you will need to make this recycled ornament are toilet paper rolls, paint and paint brush, glue, scissors, an Exacto knife, some string, a ruler and pencil. That's it! Oh, and um yes, you will also need to set aside a little time to focus on creating it; some skill is necessary to achieve the thistle effect. In addition, please note that this is NOT a craft for young children. Exacto knives and kids do not mix.

The 8-page TP Roll Thistle Ornament PDF Tutorial is hanging happily in my my wee shop!

Have a delightful weekend. I will be with you again on Tuesday.

Series 3 - SITUATION CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT-ATION #4

I couldn't sleep the other night. I wasn't feeling well. I'm all better now though, thank goodness. Unfortunately, the inability to sleep is a frequent occurrence. The thoughts get busy in there, working away, wreaking their havoc on my sleep patterns. And the whole exercise becomes futile and frustrating. I become fixated with the ebb and flow of my husband's breathing. I hang on every little creak in the house. I end up with a good-for-nothing lump of blankets in the middle of the bed. Eventually, I get up, defeated. I rise to foil those little sleep-busting thoughts. I call their bluff! And usually, I start making something.

This is what happened to me the other night when gripped by my old nocturnal friend, Insomnia. I didn't fight her. I didn't bother. I got up and made these.

Yep, the old make-a-wreath-out-of-toilet-paper-rolls-when-you-can't-sleep trick... Classic, am I right? I mean, this happens to you sometimes too, doesn't it?

Well just in case it doesn't, I made up a tutorial, so that next time sleeplessness strikes, you'll be fully prepared.

Let's get to it shall we?

Tutorial: Toilet Paper Roll Wreath Ornaments

To make ONE wreath you will need:

• 2 toilet paper rolls
• Liquid acrylic paint in metallic gold and some bright colour of your choice
• Gesso or white acrylic paint
• Paint brush
• Ribbon
• Pencil
• Ruler
• A pair of scissors
• Glue
• Clamps (I used clothes pins)

1. Apply a coat of gesso to the inside and outside of the toilet paper rolls. If you don't have gesso (which is a mixture of plaster and glue that accepts paint extremely well) you can use white acrylic paint. After the TP rolls have dried, apply 2 coats of your colour choice to the inside. Let the paint dry between coats.

2. Now apply 2 coats of metallic gold paint to the outside of the TP rolls allowing it to dry between coats.

3. Flatten out your TP rolls. Note that the rolls now have two folds. These are the "original edge folds" which I will be referring to later. Draw a line across both TP rolls about 1/2 inch from the edge. Draw a second line 3/4 inch from the edge. That leaves a "1/4 inch gap" between both lines. I will also be referring to these "1/4 inch gaps" many times in this tutorial.

4. Flip the flat TP rolls over and mark them in exactly the same way on the reverse, starting from the very same edge. Thus there are two 1/4 inch gaps on both rolls, one on either side.

5. Pinch and crease the TP rolls in the centre of the 1/4 inch gap. Do this on both sides of the rolls.

6. Your rolls will hopefully look as mine does in #6.

7. Flatten out your TP rolls again and draw a series of parallel lines running down them at 1/4 inch intervals.

8. With your scissors, make cuts following the short section of the parallel line series to the edge of the 1/4 inch gap. Do NOT pass the 1/4 inch gap line.

9. Once complete, the cuts will look as mine do in #9.

10. Remember those creases you made in the center of the 1/4 inch gaps? Here's where they come in. Fold your TP roll along one of those 1/4 inch gap creases now.

11. With the crease facing you as in #11, make cuts between the marked lines. Your cuts will be in the middle of, and run parallel to your other cuts, and end 1/8 inch away from "the original edge fold". I did it by eye but you could draw a line for exactness.

12. Repeat 10 and 11 for the 1/4 inch gap crease on the other side.

13. Flatten your TP rolls along the original edge folds.

14. Cut along the long section of the parallel line series up to the 1/4 inch gap line. Do NOT cut past the line.

15. Your cuts are complete! Yippee!

16. Re-form the TP rolls as best you can.

17. Gently pull them slightly apart and then mould them into curvy shapes.

18. Take one of the TP rolls and snip out a little piece of the end ring. You do this so that the end will slide nicely into the ends of the other roll in order to make a doughnut shape.

19. Take the uncut TP roll and apply glue in the end rings.

20. Fit the cut ends of one roll into the uncut ends of the other. Clamp in place. Wait for the glue to dry. Tie a ribbon around your little wreath ornament because it is time to hang that pretty up!

Here are your completed masterpieces... In an array of colours!

Time to get back to sleep? I'd say so... You deserve a rest!

You have yourself some pleasant dreams now.

P.S. I'll be joining the CSI Project for this week's Painted Holiday Challenge!

P.P.S. To see the rest of this series scroll down to the bottom of my Series page here!