Recycled Carpeting Tube "Pillar"

Here's a great use for that sturdy cardboard tube in which new carpeting is rolled. Go to your nearest carpeting store and ask for one - they usually have plenty. Get one that is a bit longer than the floor to ceiling measurement in your child's bedroom (or playroom). Then cut it just a tiny bit longer than that, so that it will fit snugly when wedged between floor and ceiling when you stand it up. You now have an instant "pillar".

Now take it back down and paint and decorate any way you choose to match your rooms decor. Twining vines (ala Jack and the Beanstalk, palm tree trunk w/added branches?). Now screw in cup hooks, any size you want, and you have a quick way to hang and store all those stuffed animals and toys that seem to be everywhere they shouldn't. You may have to sew a little loop on some softies in order to hang them, but this is such a neat look in any child's room.

Just be sure that it fits very snugly, you may have to get a strong person to help get it into place, though I was able to do it by myself (normal-sized middle-aged woman:). And I've found that it works best in a room with a carpeted floor, for extra snug fit.

Have fun with all the possibilities of this "up-cycled project". I've even heard of doing a faux marble paint job and using it in grown-up rooms. Nothing better than something great for nothing!

By ~gloria from western NY