Halloween-Inspired Toilet Paper Craft

Dress up a roll of toilet paper for Halloween, and add some fun to your bathroom!

No sewing! No glue! Try this super-easy craft. Great for kids too!

I first saw this craft on a Facebook post for “Smart School House.” Click here for original video: https://www.smartschoolhouse.com/diy-crafts/toilet-paper-pumpkins

I modified the original version to add my own spin on it. We always keep an extra roll of toilet paper on top of our toilet tank because, well, because my husband ticks me off when he leaves me one square of toilet paper on the roll. So, to avoid getting yelled at, he generously sticks a roll of toilet paper on top of the tank for me. I was attracted to this craft for that very reason! We always have a roll of toilet paper on the tank anyway, so I figured, it might as well look cute.

What You Need:

Roll of toilet paper
Fabric (approx. 20 inches x 20 inches) or cloth napkins
Cinnamon sticks
Silk Leaves or Greenery
Black felt (optional)
Glue (optional)

Steps:

01) Cut a piece of orange fabric, approximately 20 inches x 20 inches square. This is not an exact measurement. It is what worked best for my toilet paper roll. Just approximate the amount of fabric you will need. You don’t want it to be too small, or you won’t be able to fit it all the way around, and tuck into the top. But, you also don’t want it to be too big and bulky, or you won’t be able to fit it into the top. I cut my fabric into a square, but I think you could approximate a circle, and that might work better. Cloth napkins are also a great option!

Tip: You can use any Halloween or fall-inspired fabric that you like, plain or with a pattern. I chose a soft orange flannel, and a black polka dot.

I used a spray bottle to steam iron the fabric before I started because, well, it’s me. You do not have to iron your fabric. You won’t be able to tell if there are wrinkles in it anyway!

02) Take one corner of the fabric and tuck it into the top of the toilet paper roll to begin your tucking/folding.

03) Pleat the fabric as you go around, tucking it into the top of the toilet paper. This is not an exact science. Just play with it and see how it goes. If you end up with a “bad side,” no worries. Just turn that side to the back. I feel like it was easy to get great-looking pleats on one side, but harder to make the pleats look good all the way around.

04) When you’ve tucked all the fabric into the top, stick a large cinnamon stick into the top.

Tip: I used two smaller cinnamon sticks bunched together. You could even use a real stick for a more realistic look.

Cinnamon stick fail (sort of): The cinnamon sticks look great, and are very seasonal. Honestly, you can not smell them in the bathroom though. If you want a “cinnamon” smell with the project, you are not really going to get that. I used brand new cinnamon sticks just unsealed from a new jar, and they still do not make the bathroom smell like cinnamon. If you get up close to the sticks, yes, you can smell them. But, they aren’t really going to emit a strong fragrance of cinnamon. I tried spraying them with water to see if that process would do the trick, and it really didn’t do anything.

05) Cut a silk leaves and stick them into the top of the toilet paper roll, alongside the cinnamon sticks. My leaves were the “bendable” kind that had wire in them, so I cut them with wire cutters.

That’s it! You have a super-cute, super-easy way to add some Halloween pizzazz to your bathroom. Sit one of your pumpkins on the top of the toilet tank, on a windowsill, or on the counter.

06) Optional. Cut some pumpkin faces out of felt and glue them onto the front. I also cut out some ghost face shapes, and glued those directly onto a toilet paper roll without even covering it with fabric first, since it is already white.