The first thing Cindy did was to cut flatten the toilet paper rolls, then cut them into 1/2" strips. Then she glued them together in groups of four, making a circle.
After she had about 40 of the circles made, Cindy began placing them around her 10" mirror. Note: she did not glue them to the mirror at this point, she only glued them to each other.
This pattern created a snowflake effect. Cindy was more interested in a round shape, so she created a "tulip" pattern with four strips and used them to fill in the spaces.
Finally, Cindy spray-painted the entire thing and put it together with the mirror and embroidery hoop. She estimates that she used about 20 toilet paper rolls and six paper towel rolls for this project. The complete tutorial, along with helpful tips, can be found on her Made2Style website.
Cindy used a metallic paint on her project, but adding a little or a lot of color can make the art pop right off of your walls. Try using the rolls to create a beautiful backing for picture frames, or even just use them as picture frames themselves in a truly unique collage gallery.
Be careful, as these toilet paper roll crafts can be addictive! You'll be raiding the preschoolers' stash of finger puppet supplies before you know it... but maybe you can make up for it by using them to decorate their bedroom with adorable beehive decorations or a 3' tree.
Share your toilet paper roll crafts in the comments, and share this post with your friends!