Save a Tissue Roll, Save the World

If you watched the now defunct TV series "Heroes," you'd know where the quirky blog post title came from!

I'm all for reducing, reusing, recycling and upcycling so this was one project I couldn't wait to get my hands on!  

Dear hubby left these giant tissue rolls for me one morning (he brought them home from the office) and I spotted them sitting on the desk.  I instantly knew they were for me!  I was giddy excited and smiled from ear to ear!  Such DIY project potential in these tissue rolls (Yes, I may be the only wife who gets strangely excited when her husband surprises her with tissue rolls).  Well, they really had me at "hello."  This meant another DIY project/challenge for me! 

Since these are gigantic tissue rolls, they aren't the flimsy kinds.  They're thicker and sturdier.  One look at it and I knew they were perfect for corralling items; perfect as pencil or pen holders.  All I needed to do was decorate it and glue a firm base to hold whatever items I decide to place in them.

So first, I washi-taped the first roll.  I'm a fan of all things chevron-print now (see pinterest board on Lovin' Chevron!)...but honestly, I think it turned out less than perfect.  Something about the gaps in the washi didn't do it for me (I think for chevron-print to work, there should be equal stripe widths).  It took me more than an hour to painstakingly achieve chevron but ummm, I'm not exactly satisfied with the result.  Could have been better.

I was happier about the design of my second tissue roll.  I wrapped it in Ellen Krans scrapbooking paper (from a set given to me by my sister from her US trip).  It's a school-themed print which I love since it's so me!  And it only took about five short minutes to do!  Now, that's my kind of DIY project!

What do you think?!

Next, I used the tissue rolls to trace circles on foam sheets to use as the base and cut them up. 

Then, I adhered them to the bottom of the tissue rolls with a glue gun.

Tada!  Tissue rolls with a foam base!

And the finished product - giant tissue rolls turned cutesy pencil holders.

That's it.  Easy peasy DIY project.

I wouldn't mind doing more of these in the future.  Maybe try to achieve a better chevron-printed one.

I enjoin you to do the same if you can get a hold of giant tissue rolls!  Let's save the world one giant tissue roll at a time! = )