And What About All Those Paper Towel Tubes?by Nicole Humphrey | More from this Blogger 18 Jul 2006 06:22 AM Our family also seem to acquire a plentiful amount of paper towel rolls too, but not as much as toilet paper tubes. Nonetheless, we are still faced with a nice pile of them occasionally and I've often used them for other things. Here are a few frugal ways to use up those paper towel rolls and save a little trash! Grocery Bags All those plastic grocery bags that we accumulate every time we visit the grocery store or discount chain store, really add up. I hate to throw them away, so stuff them inside a paper towel roll. About 10 or so can fit comfortably in the tube and the tube itself can be placed in a drawer out of the way. Gift Wrap A unique and fun shape, they can hold small presents like socks or underwear, pencils, pens, crayons, etc. Anything tiny enough to fit inside, will work great! The best part is, they are bigger than toilet paper rolls so you can fit more inside and longer items! Kids Crafts I think this is just a known fact. Kids love to create and toilet paper roll tubes are perfect! You can make all types of cool crafts, just do a google search for paper towel roll crafts and you'll find them! Pet Toy For cats (or birds) you can place a bell inside or even catnip and close up the ends with masking tape. Roll them around on the floor and let the cat go wild. Our kitten loves them! Art Organizer If you affix two or three together, even add a toilet paper roll or two, you can create a very modern, almost eclectic looking art organizer. You can store rulers, pens, pencils, and crayons. Swords Every boy dreams of owning a sword, and well, a paper towel tube is a very safe way to make a home-made sword. Not as sharp and they can decorate however they wish. Scrunchies Holder Those wonderful hair bands that our little girls seem to accumulate fit perfectly around a paper towel tube. Makes them easy to see and find, and less mess. There are dozens more uses for these wonderful, free little items. Can you think of any? Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Save Money With Discarded Panty Hose Five Uses For Dryer Sheets, Plus One Creative Uses for Toilet Paper Tubes And What About Those Paper Towel Tubes? Five Great Uses For Coffee Cans Learn more about Nicole Humphrey  Nicole Humphrey is a freelance writer, consultant for CTMH and a Sr. Blogger for families.com. She resides in St. Charles, Missouri with Mike and their five children and two furbabies. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  EansMommy (5132) 18 Jul 2006 04:40 PMHi, I just wanted to give you another way to use toilet paper and paper towel rolls. You can also make seed starters for those that garden. If you cut up the paper towel roll to the size of toilet paper ones they can also be used. At the end of the toilet paper roll make (4) 1 inch cuts so that you can fold them up like a box. Fold the ends up and squeeze in the sides alittle to form a little seed starter. One end will be closed and you can put dirt and a seed in the other. Also these are biodigradable so you don't have to take them out when transplanting to the garden just plant the whole thing. Over time the roots of the plant and water will wear the little box out and it will disappear.  QueenAngie Central Illinois, USA (59956) 18 Jul 2006 04:45 PMI did something similar to Eansmommy's project. DS#1 had kindergarten graduation and I made cute little party favors so they looked like graduation caps with toilet paper tubes. I placed candy inside the 2" paper tube and cut it as noted above. I either glued or taped a 2" square of poster board on top to make a top of the little hat. Added a cute tassel and a sticker on top. It was very cheap for a party favor and sooooo cute. This could be for any type of a graduation ceremony, not just kindergarten. QueenAngie Central Illinois, USA (59956) 18 Jul 2006 04:46 PMForgot a very easy thing to do with paper towel tubes, hold it directly in front of your mouth, and sing, "Too Doo!" Makes a silly little noise that could be part of your home made band. QueenAngie Central Illinois, USA (59956) 18 Jul 2006 04:48 PMOur H.S. art teacher also collects them for her students when they are studying paintings. Placed in front of the eye, either close or far away, it helps to focus on the paintings techniques and color choices in a specific area, rather then trying to view the entire painting.  Nicole Humphrey (15757) 19 Jul 2006 06:23 AMWow - These are terrific ideas guys!! Thank you for sharing them all! Andrea M (2525) 19 Jul 2006 09:14 AMAwesome ideas! I know that my kids like it when you put a rubber band around the tube and then it sounds like an instrument. they love to make noise! And it is not too loud either!!!! Nola Redd (7081) 19 Jul 2006 05:06 PMWe used toilet paper holders as 'feet' when we made a dragon pinata for DD's birthday party. I wish we had had a paper towel holder for a way better snout and tail! Great blog! Community Tags crafts, creativity, frugal, organization, paper towel, paper tubes, paper towel tubes, recycling paper towel rolls, storage Discuss this article
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