Toilet Roll Journals - 31 Things to Create with Recycled Materials

Toilet Roll Journal 1

Cardboard arts and craft activities are great ways of making things that not only children can enjoy but also adults as well.

I found a great way of using something we have around us and use every day and these often end up in the bin. I started looking at these as a possible craft addition when I saw some of these Craft Ideas on Pinterest I ended up making an art journal, with inserts that you can use for tags and special notes I shared how I made this Journal in a post HERE   I will be doing a video so that you can see all the contents and the different tags.

It was a joy to make once you have worked out just how the journal will sit, and the different sections I wanted. It all began to come together and once again I was able to utilize all the smaller tags, cards, papers and embellishments that you see on the inside of the pages.

Join me tomorrow where I show you another Journal Making idea from Toilet tube roll and whether you are re-purposing, reusing or altering, you can make something that is unique to you. 

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Tutorial Tuesday - A6 Quinoa and Toilet Roll Journal

 Today we focus on the A6 Journal made out of Toilet roll for inner pockets and quinoa for decoration, I showed you on Saturday the journal with lots of pockets for tags, and cards to write on HERE

Because the journal is made pretty much in the same way as the chunky toilet roll journal you can go HERE to get the instructions and what I will show you is how I used the quinoa to decorate the front of the journal.

When you get to this point of making the journal you need to add a larger piece of cardboard covered in your favorite paper, or paint.  You then need to proceed to the next stage with tools that you have in your stash.

So this is what my finished journal looked like.  On the front I used a glue gun to write the words and make the outline around the front and back of the journal. and used a number which had been recycled from scrap paper with paint from other projects.

 Here is a closer look at the glue gun detail.  When applying the glue gun you need to work fast as it dries really quickly.

 These are the tools I used below and will be making a couple a tags but using the same techniques.

 On a couple of pieces of card, stamped and with some hearts punched at the bottom.

 Taking the glue gun on one of the tags I wrote out the word Joy and drew two hearts and on the other one I stuck the number 7 made from recycled paper.

Around the number 7 tag I drew a border around the edge using the  glue gun, and allowed both tags to dry.

Filling the selected spaces with pva glue I got the quinoa ready

 My plain quinoa was passed its' sell by date for consumption, so I thought it would be great to add a bit of texture on some of my pieces.  The one above has a few linseeds in them from an earlier experiment, you can use them in their natural state, or as in the little bags you can colour the quinoa using acrylic paint.

 Pour the quinoa onto the glue and allow to dry.

After they both had dried I used goldfinger metallic paste around the dried glue words and borders and on some of the quinoa in the spaces.

I then attached some ribbon to finish off.

So you can see, we can use the quinoa to add texture within quite a few projects, it is very versatile and holds well once glued.  For a high used journal I would coat the quinoa with an additional layer of pva glue which would seal it.  Looking forward to sharing next weeks recycled project.

Tutorial Tuesday - Toilet Roll Journal

In today's Tutorial Tuesday I will show you how to make this journal made from toilet rolls and recycled card. With the drive to be more 'green' this is a great way to make use of something that you would normally throw away.

What you will need:

empty toilet rolls

recycled card

packaging card - a few millimetres thick

papers and art materials to decorate.....

Here's how you put them together:

Each empty toilet roll will form a pocket for your journal, select how many you require, this journal uses 10 rolls. The card will be used to connect each rolls together

You will need two pieces of slightly thicker card taken from packaging - these will form the front and back covers

Flatten the toilet rolls and cover with some scrap paper, I have used the pages of an old encyclopedia

Seal one of the ends of the toilet roll, as you cover it above, to form a pocket that can be used to hold your tags, or journal writing.

Cut the recycled cards into strips that will be stuck to the sides of the toilet roll pockets and connect them all.

Stick the pieces of card to as many toilet roll pockets you require..

Prepare the front covers and attach.  You can paint them or add decorative paper of choice

Add paint as required to each of the pages, and make tags from some of the left over paper and card

From this to that - it's cool how you can take an everyday object and transform it!

Add some encouraging words and text to the pages, leave space for you to write your thoughts 

Enjoy spending time in your journal!

There is still 9 hours left for you to enter last weeks competition to win a Capturing moments mini journal.  Click here to take you to the post to enter.

Recycled Projects - Chunky Toilet Roll Journal

What do you do with all those toilet and paper towel rolls that you use?  Throw them in the recycling bin and forget about them, yes that is a start as opposed to them ending up in land fill.  A great alternative is to put it to creative use.

I am really excited to share what I made in today's post.  This is the type of recycling that  really love, being able to create and craft something that can hold so much promise out of something you wouldn't readily think of using.  

With a set of toilet rolls I decided to turn them into a chunky journal like this.

This chunky journal uses majority recycled materials apart from the paint and additional decoration that you might use on your pages.

Everything else is either cardboard from other packaging, string and a whole range of other things that would normally be thrown out!

The tags are made from recycled card.  It is made with space for you to write your own thoughts and feelings each toilet roll pocket has been painted or covered, and is designed for you to place a selection of things in the pocket.

Come back on Tuesday to see how I made them in Tutorial Tuesday.  Do share creative ways in which you have used recycled materials and leave a comment below.

Tutorial Tuesday

Each week on Tutorial Tuesday I will be showing you how to make the recycled projects that I have made over the weeks. Here is a list of all the current tutorials, click on the link to take you to the post.

Current Tutorials

DIY Washi Tapes


Mini Frames



Textured Chunky Journal A6


Teabag Treasures


Teabag boxes

Handmade Stamps

Directories Book Journal

Toilet Roll Journal

Capturing Moments Mini Journal

Recycled Projects - Saturdays

Each week I will be sharing with you the recycled projects that I have made over the weeks. Here is a list of all the Recycled Projects, click on the image to take you to the post.

Mini's

Teabag Treasure Box

Teabag Treasures

Quinoa A6 Journal

Handmade Stamps

Recycled Directory Journal

Capturing Moments Mini Journal

Cereal Bag Journal

Toilet Roll Journal