Who Knew?

Who would have thought that a simple cardboard tube could be turned into something so fantastic? I just recently came across this idea, and thought I'd give it a touch of my own. I've made a few mini-albums in the past, but this toilet paper tube mini piqued my interest and challenged my creativity. The concept is simple: collect a few TP tubes, flatten them, cover them with decorative papers, embellish and join into an album.

Tuck some tags into the pockets made by the tubes, and voila, a sweet little album or gift card wrapper!

 








I punched holes and inserted grommets and binder rings to make a book. It could also be held together just with string or ribbon, or if you're lucky enough to have a personal book binding tool, it could be put together that way.

Worried about the possibility of your TP rolls being contaminated from hanging around your bathroom? Pop them in a 375 degree oven for six minutes. That should take care of the germs. The TP rolls might discolor slightly, but they will still be usable.

I had fun using up odds and ends from my stash and trying out some new techniques, too. Hmmm...what else can I do with empty TP rolls?


I used Kaisercraft's Dear Santa Collection 6" paper pad for all of the pages and tags. The puffy star and reindeer ribbons came from Really Reasonable Ribbon. The grungeboard flourish is part of the Tim Holtz Ideaology Plain Elements collection. Other elements were scraps from my stash.