Save Toilet Paper Rolls And Turn Them Into Rustic Year-Round Home Decor

Pine tree decor shouldn't be limited to winter holidays and forest cabins. Pine trees are evergreen, right? So let's enjoy them at any time, just like their year-round greenery! Set up a forest of mini-trees by forming upcycled conifers fit for display. Make use of your empty toilet paper rolls by cutting and shaping them into cones. Top them with a coiling of twine, yarn, or ribbon, and stand them on a wooden trunk and base.

Save up three to five toilet paper rolls; the rule of three in decorating states that grouping odd numbers of objects — especially three of them — is most visually pleasing. Grab a glue gun, scissors, and masking tape from your crafting stash, and purchase a roll of jute twine or cream-colored macrame cording. If you'd like to deviate from the rustic look for year-round tree appeal, pick up macrame cord in a bright, non-Christmassy color. Or for pines worthy of decorating any maximalist room, wrap your cardboard cones in attention-grabbing Knitsilk Recycled Sari Silk Yarn.

You'll also need some boxboard to make a closure for the base of each tree's foliage. And for a trunk and a base below it, you'll need a short stick and a circular wood slice. You can cut your own pieces from a found branch or order some meant for crafting, like these LAZACA Craft Sticks from Amazon.

Begin by cutting your toilet paper rolls open into a square. Starting at one corner, roll the square into a cone. Add a few dabs of glue to the edges to hold the shape, and reinforce it with masking tape. Trim the bottom of the cone to make an even border. Then, trace this border onto a piece of boxboard, and cut it out. In the center of the cutout, trace the end of a piece of stick, and cut it out. Slide the stick into the hole, secure it with glue, and attach the stick and boxboard circle to the base of the cone.

Next, decorate your tree by gluing the end of your cord to the tip of the cone. Wrap the cord around the cone, gluing as you go, until you reach the base. Use the cord to hide the join between the cone and the base. Finally, affix the bottom of the stick to the center of the wood circle.

To avoid buying anything new to make these trees, use repurposed items. Form upcycled trees by subbing strips of old fabric or ribbon scraps in place of twine, and turn leftover wine corks into trunks and corrugated cardboard into bases. Stack and glue a few disks of cardboard together to make the bases more secure. Try giving the cardboard a more purposeful rustic look by peeling away the outer layer of paper on the topmost disk. If this look doesn't appeal to you, paint the base or hide it under an additional coiling of cord. Your trio or more of trees will enjoy pride of place any month of the year.