Here are four easy ornaments your family can make out of empty toilet paper tubes and extra craft materials.
Spiral Christmas Trees
- Paint your toilet paper tubes green and let them dry.
- Cut the tubes in a spiral shape by starting at the bottom and cutting at an angle, going around and around until you get to the top. I was able to make two trees from one empty tube.
- Decorate your trees with whatever you have on hand — glitter, sequins, buttons, pom poms, etc. I used a hot glue gun to attach the items, but glue dots would be an alternative if you are working with younger children.
- Glue a string, tied in a loop, at the top to hang it.
Decorative Star
- Cut a toilet paper tube in half, and then cut from the top of the ring, down towards the bottom, leaving about a 1/2 inch uncut. Do this all around the outside of the tube, and then fold these outwards, forming the arms of the star.
- Paint the star and let it dry. (If you paint it white, it could be a snowflake.)
- Decorate with whatever craft supplies you have on hand or decorate with more paint.
- Attach a string to hang it.
Poinsettia
- Cut one tube into several loops.
- Paint these pieces red on the inside and outside of the ornament. Feel free to add glitter to the wet paint to give your ornament some sparkle. Let everything dry.
- Using a hot glue gun or glue dots, attach the painted rings together to form the leaves of the poinsettia.
- Glue sequins to the middle, and attach a string for hanging.
Rudolph Ornament
- Cut a toilet paper tube into thirds. Paint each one brown; let dry.
- Wrap a brown pipe cleaner around one side of the tube, making sure the ends are even. Twist them by wrapping them around your finger to make them look like antlers.
- Glue on eyes and a nose, then attach a string for hanging it.
Want more keepsake ornament ideas? Try these!