TP Rolls as Wall Art?!

We've all seen the pins on Pinterest for toilet paper roll wall art. Really? Can tp rolls look that nice? Yes, they can and the fact that it's a quick, fun project makes it an enjoyable venture. It may be a great place to start if you're just getting into crafts and DIY. 

Now, this one does take some planning. You have to start saving tp and/or paper towel rolls. It took me about 6 months to save for this project. There are some leftover but I'll use them for another project in the future. I suppose you could solicit everyone you know for their empty rolls. 
Knock, knock. 
"Oh, Hi Jen. How are you?"
"I'm well....can I have your empty tp rolls?"
<Insert strange look and silent thoughts of "What in the world?" here> 
Now that the worst is over, get to collecting those rolls! 

Here's what you'll need: (Sorry, I was so excited I didn't gather and photograph all the materials.) 

• 30-35 tp rolls, cut to 1.5" sections
• Pen
• Scissors
• t-square/ruler/meter stick
•  Hot glue gun and glue
• Spray paint (color of your choice)
• Surface protector
• Imagination
• About 1 hour

I started by cleaning all the little pieces of paper still stuck to the rolls. It took hardly any time. The sticky stuff that holds the paper on the roll is actually really forgiving and releases with a gentle tug. Plop yourself in front of the TV and you'll be done in no time. :) 


Next, I used a corner square and small (12") t-square to use for measuring. This part was pretty fun for me. It fed right into my OCD tendencies to do things exactly the same over and over again. Here are the steps I took. 

1. Flatten the tp roll. Put it on the floor and push down with your hands until it's flat. 
2. Line it up with the corner square. Use the t-square with the ruler pointing away from you and the t lined up against the other side of the flattened roll. (Confusing enough?) Line up the ruler edge with the measurement you want, I used 1.5", on the corner square, draw a line and move to the next measurement spot. 
3. Cut the roll on the lines. 

You'll end up with a pile like this: 

Once all the rolls you want are cut, it's time to play with design. I cleared off the kitchen table, plugged in the glue gun to heat up and began experimenting. Think about where you plan to put the art as you're designing. Mine is going above the kitchen cabinets in the peak. It's been a blank spot forever and I have been trying to decide what should go there. I thought this project would be perfect. Honestly, this took the longest as I couldn't decide what I liked most. Finally, I found it! 

The fun part was about to begin, gluing it together! Remember how I said earlier that I have an OCD tendency to do things exactly the same way over and over again? That might explain why this was SO INCREDIBLY SATISFYING for me! As I began, I figured out how I could be more efficient in gluing, timing and making the final product look polished. 

I started with the horizontal pieces in the center and glued them end to end. 

The bowl has no significance to this project. It helped hold the end of the posterboard flat.

I decided to do the bottom half first. Leaving the design on the kitchen table, I just grabbed and attached a row at a time. 

Run a line of glue along the end of the vertical piece then abut it to the seam between the horizontal pieces.

Keep the rest of the pieces in place. It helps ensure the final design looks like the original plan.

Now, my favorite part of the whole project. The steps I did to glue the pieces together. 

Pinch the two pieces together. Run a line of glue in the seam.

Line up the edge of the third piece and hold them all together. Better pictures coming up.

Run the line of glue in the pinched seam.

See it?

Add the third piece to the seam and hold.

Repeat, repeat, repeat and before you know it, voila! 

All glued together!

So fun to make!

I love the design.

Uniform + repetition = Happy

The final step is to paint the piece, if you want. The organic color of the rolls is kinda fun too but I wanted mine to be black. 


In the garage, I set up my spray paint station and got to work. I love Rustoleum spray paint. This summer, I invested in the most amazing tool ever, a spray paint "sprayer" handle. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this tool! 

No more sore fingers, thumbs and hands when spray painting!

Funny, it looks like there is some areas not painted but really it's all covered really well.

 Paint and let dry. I left it to dry 24 hours. Then, hang it up! That's it.

So, what do you think? Not too shabby if you ask me. I still have pieces leftover and am already brainstorming what I can do with them. If you give it a try, I'd love to see your projects.