5 Ways To Upcycle Cardboard Tubes

We love a good upcycle project and hate to see simple materials with so much potential go to waste! So today we've teamed up to bring you five project ideas to turn unwanted cardboard tubes into something a little more exciting...

1. Stamp
This is a super easy way to create your own printed wrapping paper. Simply take your cardboard tube and flatten it in half, then open out and push one fold in to create a heart shape. Then just dip the end of the tube into your paint and stamp away. - S

2. Pillow Boxes
Instead of making pillow boxes and simply covering them with wrapping paper I took to Pinterest to see if I could find any fun decoration ideas and stumbled across some animal designs. I loved how the shape of the pillow box lends itself to being an owl. I used a circle punch and some scrap papers to decorate the body and cut wings from the scraps of cardboard - E

3. Cable Tidy
There are tons of great ways to keep all of your cables organised, and colour coded cardboard tubes is a really easy option. Cover as many tubes as needed in your favourite washi tapes or craft papers, and then pick a cable for each. That way the cables are out of the way, and you'll know exactly which one to reach for depending on its brightly covered cover. - S

4. Hair Cuffs
Another Pinterest inspired idea was this simple to make hair cuff that sits over and covers your regular hairband for a more fun look. To create it I cut a small section of a cardboard tube, used Mod Podge to cover it with a scrap of fabric and once dry cut a slit into it so it could easily be put in place on the ponytail and voilà, a new accessory in minutes! - E




5. Seed Planters
To make the planters, cut off 1/4 of a tube, fold the remaining tube in half, and then half again. Open the tube out again and then using a pair of scissors snip about 1" into each of the folds. Fold these flaps one on top of the other and fold the remaining one underneath the first to secure, and that's the bottom of your planter. The great thing about using cardboard tubes is plant seeders is that once your plants are ready to be moved into bigger pots, the cardboard can go straight in with them as it will just breakdown into the soil. - S

We'd love to hear from you if you give these DIY's a go - use the hash tag #eightandsixteen to share your photos with us!

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