Get Halloween ready with Oceans as we show you how to make Halloween decorations using empty toilet rolls!

Empty toilet rolls provide an almost limitless supply of craft possibilities. From desk tidies to mini planters, these versatile items can bring you and your kid’s hours of fun. So, with Halloween just around the corner, why not use a couple of your empty toilet rolls to make some quick, easy and, most importantly of all, spooky characters to decorate your home.

Halloween crafts with toilet rolls

As well as often being expensive, shop-bought Halloween decorations are not always made from sustainable materials. By opting to make your own decorations using recycled materials like empty toilet roll tubes, you are not only saving money, you’re also helping the environment. Of course, the process also doubles up as a fun and creative activity for you and your little ones! 

How to make Halloween toilet paper roll crafts

Creating a range of toilet roll Halloween decorations is quick, simple and a lot of fun. Using the basic steps described below, you and your family can bring four spooktastic characters to life. Using just a few simple items, a vampire, a mummy, a traditional Halloween pumpkin and Frankenstein’s monster can be made in no time. But first things first, what do you need to get started?

What you need

To make these four Halloween classics, you will need the following items:

Frankenstein’s monster

1. Take your empty toilet roll and paint the entire surface lime green. This might take two coats of paint. Once the paint has been applied, allow the roll to dry before moving on to the next step. If you don’t want to use paint, you can also simply cover your roll in green craft card.
2. Using scissors, carefully cut out small rectangles to form a mouth and eyebrows from black craft card. These can then be glued into place. Alternatively, you can use your marker pen to draw these items onto the tube.
3. To create the iconic Frankenstein hair, cut a strip of black card. Next, cut out a zig-zag pattern on the bottom of the strip. This can be glued onto the top of the roll to form the hair.
4. Finally, using your marker pen, add some cartoon scars and a pair of eyes. If you have purchased googly eyes, these can be stuck on instead.

Mummy

1. Glue googly eyes onto an empty toilet roll tube.
2. Cut out small strips of toilet paper, roughly 7.5cm in length by 2.5cm in width.>
3. Without covering the eyes, glue these strips at random to the surface of the tube.

*Remember, not all spaces need to be covered. When it comes to a spooky Egyptian mummy, sometimes less is more!

Pumpkin

1. Paint the entire surface of your toilet or kitchen roll tube bright orange. Remember, it might take two coats for the colour to fully take, and you will need to make sure the paint has fully dried before moving on to the next step.
2. Cut out eyes, a nose and a mouth using black craft card and glue these scary shapes onto your roll. If you would prefer, you can also just use a permanent marker to draw on these features.
3. Using green craft card, cut out a narrow strip that can be used as the pumpkin’s stem. To make this look even more realistic, you can curl this strip around a pencil before you glue it on to give it a more natural look.

Vampire

1. Paint an empty tube a skin colour of your choice. Again, allow for two coats and always make sure the paint is fully dry before moving onto the next step. 
2. Using black craft card, carefully cut out your vampire’s hair. For best results, make sure the hair comes down in a peak, finishing just above where your vamp’s eyes will sit. Use glue to stick the card to the top of your roll.
3. Either draw on a pair of creepy eyes using a black permanent marker or stick on shop-bought googly eyes.
4. Draw on the nose and a mouth using a black permanent marker.
5. Using white craft card, cut out two small triangles that can be used as fangs. When you are happy with them, stick them to the drawn-on mouth using glue. 
6. Using a red craft card, cut out a large triangle. This can be glued onto the back of the tube to form a cape. 

Although we have provided step-by-step instructions for four classic Halloween characters, why stop there? With a bit of imagination, there are plenty of different spooks you can create using toilet roll tubes this Halloween.

Whether you want to make a witch complete with black cat or a bat to accompany your vampire, when it comes to eco-friendly toilet tube crafts, the possibilities are endless this Halloween!