Now that we’re going on week seven of coronavirus quarantine (is that right? Week seven? We don’t even know what day it is anymore), you might be looking at your home like you’ve never seen it before. Bottles that would normally go in the recycling bin? Those could be upcycled into planters! Egg cartons? Make them into fire-starters!
Quarantine has a way of bringing out our creativity (maybe because some of us have more time on our hands than usual or maybe because we’re all bored as anything). If you’ve found yourself discovering projects around the house, then congratulations! We call that quarantine creativity and you’ve found yours.
There are a lot of different projects you can do to get those creative juices flowing, from kid-friendly recycling projects to making all-natural soap. One of the easiest ways to channel your quarantine creativity is to make crafts out of paper towels — both the sheets and the cardboard rolls when you’re done with it. After all, most of us have a ton of toilet paper and paper towel rolls laying around the house, especially now during sheltering in place (even those of us that usually live a low- or zero-waste lifestyle).
DIY Kaleidoscope
Many of us are quarantining with kids, so if you need a family-friendly paper towel craft idea, start by transforming a paper towel tube into a kaleidoscope. For this DIY kaleidoscope craft — adapted from Darcy and Brian, you will need the following materials:
- Paper towel tube
- 12×12 card stock or scrapbook paper
- Clear plastic
- Cardboard
- Aluminum foil
- Beads
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
In addition to these eight materials, you will also need anything you’d like to decorate with. You can decorate with more paper, markers, washi tape, pipe cleaners, stickers, or fabric.
To make this DIY kaleidoscope, start by adding hot glue to the scrapbook paper, then rolling the paper towel tube over the glue so that the paper sticks onto the tube. Make sure to cut off any excess. Next, trace the bottom circle of the paper towel tube on the clear plastic three times, cutting out three circles of the plastic. Hot glue one of the plastic circles to the bottom of the tube, then in the open end of the tube, add your colorful beads. The second plastic circle goes inside the tube, over the beads. You can accomplish this by using a pencil to push it down in place over the beads.
Next, cut three 1-inch wide strips of cardboard that are as long as the paper towel tube. Cover each of these strips with foil, hot gluing the foil to the cardboard if you have to. Stand the three tinfoiled cardboard strips into a 3D-triangle shape, like a tent. Using hot glue, glue the strips together in this triangle shape, then place it inside of the paper towel tube. Glue the final plastic circle on top of the open end of the paper towel tube, then you’re done! All that’s left to do is decorate the exterior of the kaleidoscope.
Have you always wanted one of those fancy phone holders? They’re great for reading a recipe while cooking in the kitchen or FaceTiming your friends and family, hands-free. But they can be pricey. We love this DIY phone holder because it takes something that would have been scrapped otherwise — the TP or paper towel tubes — and turns it into something that’s functional.
To make this DIY phone holder, also from The Sea Man Mom, you will need the following materials:
- Scissors
- Thumbtacks
- Washi tape, tissue paper, construction or scrapbook paper, or anything else to decorate
This DIY is really simple. All you really need to do is cut a slit in your paper towel tube with some scissors. Make sure the slit is the length of your smartphone’s bottom. Next, add four thumbtacks to the bottom of the tube-turned-phone-stand. These will be the stand’s legs. All that’s left to do is decorate!
You can decorate with washi tape, paint, tissue paper, construction or scrapbook paper, stickers, or any other DIY, decorative materials. Note: You’ll have to remove the thumbtack legs in order to decorate the phone stand safely. You can either add the thumbtacks in after or remove them to decorate and pop them back in later.
Gift Boxes
One of our favorite ways to upcycle a paper towel (or toilet paper) tube is to make it into a gift box. To make this DIY gift box idea from The Sea Man Mom, you will need the following materials:
- TP or paper towel tubes
- Tissue paper
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Ribbon
To make a paper towel or TP tube into a gift box, start by cutting the tissue paper; it should wrap around your tube at least three times, with 1-inch extra material hanging off each side. Use a glue stick to add adhesive to the wrong side of the tissue paper, then wrap the tissue paper around the roll as many times as it will allow, taking care to make sure the paper is face-up.
Tuck in and glue the excess tissue paper into the tube on both sides. Now, you have to make the gift box shape. Using your fingers, press one end of the roll, folding it in toward the center. Make sure the crease is clear to highlight the shape of the gift box. Now, before you do the other side, place your tiny gift inside the tube. Once it’s inside, you can use your finger to press the other end of the roll, folding it into the middle. Cut your ribbon so that it wraps around the tube three times, then decorate the gift box in any other way you see fit!