What should I do with all the empty toilet paper rolls that I have saved? I hate to just throw them away.
By ed robinson from Lexington, KY
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If you garden, you could use them to make collars to keep away cutworms. You might shorten or cut in half and cut a slit up side and retape if plant isn't small enough to plant through the roll. Or just tuck in ground and stick seeds into ground with a chopstick.
I am a spinner/weaver/knitter and I put mine on top of my ball winder and wind the yarn I've spun around the roll. It keeps the center of the ball in place until I'm ready to use it [doesn't collapse on itself]. I trim the rolls to about 1/2 inch on the long side.
You could cut them in half cross ways and sit them side by side in a shallow box to make little niches for
all the junk we all collect that fits no category. If you preferred you could tape them into rows. This would be useful for a garage, where looks don't matter as much. Or for your junk drawer. I suppose if you taped them into rows and then the rows [along outside of one side] you could brush the bottom with a little Elmers and stick them to either bottom of box or some thin board liner cut to fit the larger container. Hmm, maybe I'll do the same but cut them in ascending heights, put in box after taping and put my zillion colored pencils in said box, by color. I might also cut sides of box at a slant and the front a little lower.
They might be great holders [cut shorter or not] to hold those darn cords we all have lying around. Obviously the really big extension cords wouldn't work, but computer cords, and so on for a designated cord box.
You could also make long loops of a few rows of xmas tree lights and put a few rolls on as holders when you pack them away each year.
I try to save and reuse aluminum foil. I straighten it over the counter edge [gently], and roll around a broom handle or rolling pin and then carefully work into a smaller roll. You could then pop said roll of used foil, or leftover gift paper, etc into toilet paper roll.
This might work for folks who craft; I used it for washing individual locks of wool . I cut a slit in the top of two rolls with a matching slit just opposite the first ones on the rolls. I laid a skinny shish kebab skewer on top and pushed into the slits. I used the set up as a mini clothes line. If I needed a bunch, I clothes pinned some of the rolls together on one end to stabilize the whole thing.
You could use them as decoration aides for a home made cake. Poke one end into frosted cake top and pour sprinkles slowly and sparingling into the hole, using a paper or other funnel if necessary. It will make cute circles [balloons?} here and there on top.
If you need something held to paint and you don't have enough hands, pop it into top of roll and stabilize roll however you can think of. Do one side let dry and do other side [I'm thinking knobs, or wooden toy parts.You could use the rolls taped into a cluster to hold up a larger part, placing whole rig onto newspaper of course. Okay, I'm done for the moment.
Call your local elementary school or high school. I used to be an art teacher and loved it when parents would bring me things like that.
Contact local senior facilities because they might want to use them for their residents craft classes. Please don't just throw them away if you can't find a home for them and take them to your local recycling center!
I like them to wrap small gifts in a Christmas, make it look like a party favor with the ends twisted. Also could wrap a few with nothing inside and use yarn or string to hang them on the Christmas tree.
Know anyone with a large bird? My brother's parrot love to play with them. Eventually they get shredded and need to be replaced.
My current favorite use for them is to use them as cord catchers- appliances such as the air popper, the waffle iron, and the hand mixer, all have TP rolls holding the cords! For shorter cords, I cut the rolls in half, because they don't require quite as much length. Just fold up your cords in about 4-7" lengths, and stuff the whole thing into a roller- the nice thing about the TP rolls is, even the plug will usually fit through. They also come off more quickly and easily than twist-ties. I've also found that they work great for all of our extension cords (small household ones, NOT the big ones out in the shop!)- if you wrap up all of your cords this way, you'd be surprised how well it tidies up the counter, cupboards, and "junk" drawer! ;o)
I have seen where they make a great wall decoration and it is so simple a child can do it and it looks very nice. Cut the tube into thinner rings, color them with a magic marker or crayons, and then glue them together forming a daisy like or flower design and use a piece of cord or wire to form the stem and more tubes for the leaves. Hang it on the wall and you have a great and unusual design on your wall. You can get very creative with this. I am thinking to have daisies lined on the base boards and up the wall would be an outstanding look with maybe a headboard out of a white picket fence piece. You could also do a display of a large sunflower with yellow paint and brown center. I am thinking of putting this on my kitchen wall.
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