Tiolet paper rolls on the wall

Think twice before you pull that last square of toilet paper off the roll, then throw that roll in the trash. You could be throwing away magic! Alright maybe not magic. How can anything left over from days of wiping your butt be magic? But they could definitely make a potential piece of art!

I didn't come up with the idea on my own, though if you know me you would think that I would find inspiration in bathroom paraphernalia. Actually this project was inspired by a photo I stumbled across on the internet of toilet paper rolls cut down to size and glued into designs.

It was just too awesome and the possibilities were endless! I thought that it would be cool with a little bit of color in the girl's bedroom. So, off I set to the task of collecting weeks and weeks of toilet paper and paper towel rolls. I filled two shopping bags full of these things and I must have looked like such a hoarder to my family and friends who had no idea why I was collecting the rolls.

After filling the first bag I started cutting the rolls into 1 inch strips for my leaves and 1 1/2 inch strips for the flowers. I wanted the flowers to stand out from the wall a little further than the leaves. I constructed most of the flowers and found that I had little left over to make the leaves, so it was back to collecting! A few weeks later and another bag full of rolls, I was able to finish cutting the leaves.

I hot-glued the flowers into a five petal star bursts. This was easy enough. The leaves on the other hand were a little harder to pre-construct, so I ended up making a few glued designs and leaving the rest to piece in after the main part of the design was completed.

I spent a good part of an afternoon painting the flowers and the leaves. I tried to add variety to the greens I used for the leaves and the shades of pink for the flowers. Subtle variety always makes things look a little more interesting don't you think?

I also wanted to add some flare to the flowers, so with some nice paper I cut out small and large circles and glued them to the centers of each flower. I had some buttons and further embellished with them, gluing them to the center of the circle.

When everything was dry it was design time. The best way to do this is just lay it out on the floor and play around with the placement.When I liked something for sure I glued it. If I didn't, I moved it until it just felt right. This process was time consuming, but I think it's the best part!

I had to make sure the entire piece lay flat, so I had to use extra care that each roll was flat against the floor while I was gluing. I added a butterfly as a final touch for Abby and hung the wall hanging on the girls bedroom wall with some nails. May I say it was very easy to hang!

I'm thinking of doing a more grown-up version for the living room. I think it might be nice to have it weave in between my picture frames. Something to think about I suppose.

Well, I hope I've left you with some inspiration and the idea that even something used for evil i.e. wiping your butt, can be used for beauty and good. Much like God does with us right? Now, I do draw the line at wall hangings constructed out of tampons or maxi pads.

until tomorrow...