Anybody else hate spending money on seasonal decor?
I want my house to look cute and cozy for fall, but c’mon…all those fake pumpkins, cornucopias, and decorative gourds add up! And then you have to find a place to store all the stuff when the season is over.
Fortunately, I have discovered a super-easy crafty way to make cute fabric pumpkins with $1 thrifted shirts, a humble roll of toilet paper, and yard trash.
The total cost per pumpkin is about $0.50 (since you can get two pumpkins from each $1 shirt)!
How To Make Toilet Paper Pumpkins
You guys…this is so easy.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Toilet paper rolls: Use double/mega rolls for this project, as they’re wider and more pumpkin-y.
- Shirts in fall colors: I found these three on the $1 clearance rack at my favorite thrift store.
I opted for solid colors in differing textures, but patterned fabrics would work well for this project too!
Because I hate destroying perfectly good clothing, I chose only shirts that were damaged (but still had enough useable fabric for my project).
- Yard trash: You’ll also need a stick and a leaf for each pumpkin. I plucked these from my Japanese Maple (although they look a little like um…er…something else in this pic…).
Step 1: Cut out your fabric
You’ll want something close to an 18″x18″ square per pumpkin.
Step 2: Wrap your toilet paper roll in the leftover scraps
This will help give your pumpkin a nice round shape.
Step 3: Place your toilet paper roll in the center of your fabric square.
Step 4: Starting with a corner, tuck the fabric into the center of the toilet paper roll. Repeat with the other corners.
Floof the fabric as you go to get your desired shape.
Step 5: Tuck the stick and leaf into the center of your new fabric pumpkin!
Aren’t they cute? I really love how these little guys look together with their different textures.
This is such an easy low-cost project! And when you’re done, you can just put your TP away and use the fabric for cleaning rags. No storage needed!
And as Mr. Refashionista said, “If there’s another toilet paper shortage, this would be a great way to hide our TP from any houseguests so they can’t steal it.”
Crafty AND survivalist? Win/Win I say!
Cheers!
Toilet Paper Pumpkins
Use thrift store shirts in fall colors to turn rolls of toilet paper into adorable pumpkins.
Materials
- Toilet paper roll
- Fall-colored thrifted shirt
- Small Stick
- Leaf
Tools
- Fabric Scissors
Instructions
- Cut out your fabric into a roughly 18"x18" square
- Wrap the toilet paper in leftover fabric scraps to give it roundness.
- Place toilet paper roll in the center of fabric square.
- Starting with a corner, tuck the fabric into the center of the toilet paper roll. Repeat with other corners.
- Tuck the small stick and leaf into the center of your new fabric pumpkin!
Notes
Each fabric pumpkin costs $0.50 to make!
Ha ha ha – love the recipe card instructions. 🙂
This is great! I love making one new item for each holiday decor, usually a wreath. But, who has endless storage? Fabric seems a great way to transition old items and not create more things to store. I can see old pillows, old containers, old ornaments, etc that can be refashioned for new seasons. Yay!
Great idea, Kelly! Or the sleeves could be made into doggy sweaters/shirts, too.
I loved this so much I made 4 of them. Super cute! Thank you!
So cute! Love the different textures!
Cute pumpkins! I love the idea that it is a temporary decoration that won’t need to be stored and can be repurposed again
Love this! So ingenious but simple. Just like you I dont want to store more stuff after haloween, easter and so o n.
Thanks for this auper idea !
cute, especially love the no storage idea
I love these! Thank you for posting about this. I have the same issues you do about buying ready-made items – they’re expensive and take up too much storage room. This is a perfect solution.
Now to put on my thinking cap about Christmas decor. And hope that you’re already ahead of me on that 🙂
These look great! and you can use the sleeves of those sweaters as adorable boot socks in perfect fall hues!
That’s our girl!!!
Totally cute, and my 7-yo son will love the use of toilet paper, and collecting sticks & leaves to put these together. Now for Christmas decor… ok it’s a little early 🙂
So cute! I’m delighted you shared this project with us. Thank you! Can’t wait to see what else you come up with. Will you be sharing your finished Fall Decor with us?
Kudos ! What a great idea to use items that are cheap. I’ll try it with cloth napkins and fall dishtowels that someone gave me and I already own. Free is a good four-letter word. Love that you are still hanging in there and so productive even as you may not feel that well. I have some fake leaves that I can use, too. Prayers for you.
These are fabulous! Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea! Love ’em!
Clever!!
Now, we’ll know where to find the last roll of toilet paper.
Those are so cozy and cute! Brilliant in every way. Half the fun of holiday decor is certainly making something fresh and unique. Thanks so much for sharing your sustainable, thrifty, survivalist, outside-the-box creation!
OMG!!!!! FANTASTIC!
Adorable!
Very clever, love this idea
I don’t mind spending the money, but I do hate storing holiday stuff. This is a great idea!
Absolutely the best fall decor idea ever! You rock!
What a fabulous idea. So cute and economical too. Tell Mr Refashionista he´s a genius.
Love this and all the different textures! And your husband is so clever about “hiding” the TP (oh let’s not hope there could be shortages again!)
Remarkably clever, easy and adorable. The finished product looks gift store quality.
Cute idea, beautifully done. Love your ring.
What a cute idea!
Omg! Such a great and cute idea. I totally need to make theses!
So cute! I’ve seen them made before, but not from thrifted shirts! Brilliant!
I love your creativity! You inspire me in so many ways!!!
Mr. Refashionista’s quote made me giggle – thanks!
That’s a great idea- we need a way to use up the sandpaper TP we bought during the toilet paper madness!
So cute!! What a smart idea!
Hope you are feeling better!
I feel quite ill and bad for the environment when I see plastic pumpkins, skeletons and every manner of disposable “trendy today and garbage tomorrow” Decor. I just made a thrift store wreath using a pot of silk flowers a hand made ( by me) grapevine Wreath for under $5.00. I love your idea too. I’m going to do it. Stay well and thank you for your great ideas.
OMG Love Love Love !!! I was going to say :”ugh, I don’t have fall fabric like you” but I have thrift stores around and it will cost pennies 🙂 THANK YOU for this!!! Much love to you and husband!
I hope that you are feeling OK, and that your chemo sessions are becoming a dim, and increasingly bearable, memory.
It’s a treat, regardless of the season, to read about your latest creations.
This is an adorable — yet practical — idea, especially for those who lack storage because of their preexisting TP stockpile!
These are so cute! I have made a trio for the past couple years, and another added benefit I have found is that you only have to store the fabric from year to year, and not the TP, leaving room to store even more homemade decorations!
Super cute idea!! One more reason to go thrifting! (like I need a reason…….)
Super idea and super cute!!! A fall print would be nice, too. Mix it up!!
I’m totally with you on the DIY seasonal crafts. It’s total madness to spend a bunch of money on decor that’s only on display for a brief amount of time each year. I need to do some of these pumpkins too. Thank you for the tutorial!
Clever!
Super cute!!!!
🙂
Great idea and so cute! We have virtually NO storage space (well, almost) so I appreciate the multiple use concept. And your ring is beautiful!
Great idea!