Guest post from Anne Simpson
“Dispenser” is perhaps not the most accurate word to use, because it doesn’t actually dispense the toilet paper. Sorry. But it does neatly contain it for you, in a discreet yet visible way, so that no guest ever feels the need to rummage under your sink for an emergency re-stocking.
I have this thing for re-using empty food containers; it’s kind of an addicting habit. Egg cartons, coffee cans, and now oatmeal canisters. I’m always looking for ways to recycle and upcycle containers that would otherwise be thrown away.
Thankfully, it’s easy to do with a few simple supplies. For this particular container upcycle, all you need is:
- an oatmeal canister (it’s the perfect diameter for double rolls of toilet paper)
- wrapping paper (or 2 sheets of scrapbooking paper)
- coordinating ribbon
- scissors
- glue stick
They say you should measure twice and cut once, which is great advice that I never follow. Instead, I just line up the top of the oatmeal canister against the edge of the wrapping paper. (By the way, I used a nice sturdy, good quality wrapping paper. Cheaper, thinner types might not work quite so well.) I made sure to tuck the paper right under the lip on top of the container to help hold it in place and hide the edge. Making sure the paper remained tucked under that lip, I rolled the canister until it was surrounded by paper. Making sure to add an extra inch or two, I cut the paper in a straight line down the side of the canister, past the bottom edge by a few inches.
Then I unrolled the paper from the canister, but kept it in place to help me measure the length properly. I wanted about an extra inch to fold over the bottom of the canister, so I used my fingers to mark that space while I cut off the rest of the square.
Then I just used a humble glue stick, spreading about an inch-thick strip of glue all the way down one side of the canister, and adhering the paper (making sure it was straight) to the glue. Then I wrapped the rest of the paper around the canister, and once again glued an inch-thick strip of glue all the way down, this time on top of the paper itself to form an overlap. I secured the last edge of the paper firmly, then set the canister upside down to fold the bottom edge neatly. I glued as I went along, making sure to glue all the pieces of paper both to the canister itself and to the paper, since the little folds all kind of overlap each other.
The final touch is to add a bow. I placed a couple rolls of toilet paper inside the canister to help stabilize it, because it was kind of tricky to try to tie a bow around the hollow canister.
And there you have it: a glammed up toilet paper holder made out of an empty food container, paper, ribbon and glue!
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I love this! What a great way idea! Thanks for sharing.
I love this! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Too cute! This would be a great housewarming gift or a cute craft for your kids to bless several households of your extended family with at Christmas time.