Really need ideas for these,I have them coming out my ears.
1.use as telescope for lil ones
2.use as a container for wraping odd shape gifts in
3.use as a spool to hold recycled ribbon from christmas
4.use as a cord keeper
5.give to gerbils or hampsters to chew on(I need one of these lil critters lol
This may sound strange, but before I let the kids play with them I spray them with a disinfectant spray. That way if there are some germs on them, the germs are gone.
Many gardeners, myself included, place them around the base of planted leeks. This increases the growth of the tender, white, blanched part of the leek. The part most of us eat. You can also start you carrot seeds in tp rolls. When they've sprouted the entire roll goes into the garden. It will degrade as the carrot grows.
Believe it or not your local zoo would be glad to have all you can get. Also paper towel tubes, empty oatmeal boxes etc. They are given to animals as "enrichment" meaning it gives them a new thing to play with. Sometimes used to hide food to encourage foraging behavior. Just call the zoo and I'll bet they can hook you up. I'm a docent here and give all mine to the zoo and most of the other docents do too so that is a LOT of paper tubes. They get torn up so can always use more.
You can use empty toilet paper rolls to roll your hair. If you have shoulder length or longer hair, empty toilet paper rolls work perfectly. Use toilet paper rolls to roll you dry hair. You can use bobbie pins, or clips to hold in place. Leave it up for about an hour. When you unroll it, you'll have fuller, smoother, flowing hair, with soft curls at the bottom.
Turn toilet paper and paper towel tubes into kindling and logs for your fireplace. For fire starter, use scissors to cut the cardboard into 1/8-inch (3-millimeter) strips. Keep the strips in a bin near the fireplace so they'll be handy to use next time you make a fire. To make logs, tape over one end of the tube and pack shredded newspaper inside. Then tape the other end. The tighter you pack the newspaper, the longer your log will burn.
I use them to make spiderman 'web-shooters' for my DS's. First of all I paint them red, then draw on the web with black marker pen and finally coat them in watered down pva glue.
Other than this the children use them for junk modelling or they go in the recycling.
I have no kids and after having so many no shows for them when I offered them on freecycle, I just flattened and put in the paper recycling bin. Same thing with paper towel rolls.
You can also cut them up and put them in the compost pile. I do that occasionally also.
I remember exactly how, but my mom and I used to fashion kaleidoscopes out of paper towel and or toilet paper tubes. It was fun, easy and cheap and provided hours of enjoyment.
I'm sure you can rustle up a good craft project with them on the web.
I save our TP rolls (I dont buy paper towels any more) and take them to the kids school they have a huge toddler and pre school program and can always use the empty rolls, some times I have oatmeal containers too for them.
I use tp rolls to plant seeds in....cut them in two and put them side by side in a plastic wrap covered box...fill with potting soil and plant your garden seeds.....when the plants are big enough plant the whole thing....you need to be a bit careful as you handle them when planting...but I do it every year....
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