DIY stationery holder

I think I've always been a very practical person. Not focusing too much about the esthetics of the things I buy, but more concerned about how the product will improve my life. I guess this has something to do with my Mom's teachings since small.

I also have the tendency of recycling things in the house that I find can still be of use to me. Why throw them away when they can still benefit me somehow. Some used products can't be recycled and are thrown away and some can be recycled and I will turn them into something useful and give them a new life.

Used toilet rolls for example. I have been thinking of how I could reuse them for months now. During Chinese New Year, an idea just hit me. I wanted to fill the box that I got when buying drinking water, with those toilet rolls and use them as stationery holders! I really needed one anyways since what I was using before could no longer hold all the important stationery items I use everyday. I wanted the important ones to be kept in one place and make it easy for me to find them.

Since the box I wanted to use is quite big, I would need a lot of toilet rolls to fill it up. So the collection began since CNY. I kept collecting them one by one until one day the whole box was filled up with the rolls. Since I am too lazy to decorate it with a lot of fancy decorations, I kept the decoration minimal. For me, what is most important is the function. 

The first thing I did after the collection of toilet rolls were complete, was to paint the box with white acrylic paint. Then I would glue all the toilet rolls together using a hot glue gun. Glue them one by one to the box. This way, they will stay put in the box and won't move around when I add my stationery items in them.

I then filled the rolls with all my stationery stuff. I was able to fit in all my pencils, pens, markers, rulers, glue, scissors, brushes and many more stuff in it. I was so happy they all fit in! But as you can see, it looks so simple and unfinished. I didn't even paint the toilet rolls. I don't have the time for it. I just kept it simple.

Then, I got another idea. Since the box is big, I thought of using the space outside it as a notice board!  So what I did was, I took an old Styrofoam sheet I had, cut it up to fit the size of the box and wrapped it up with a dark blue paper. Pasted it on the box and walla!!! I got myself a mini notice board that I can use to pin my To do List or pin other reminders.

I didn't stop there.....I continued with another idea, which is to paste on the other side of the box with magnets!! Yes, so if I wanted to use the other side of the box, I could use magnets to stick notes there too! 

I really love this idea and I hope this will inspire others to recycle the toilet rolls too. If you are not lazy like me, you would probably be more creative in decorating and painting the stationery holder. It would look pretty for your craft room! Remember to recycle those toilet rolls and keep them away from the junkyard. Make something pretty with them, and there are a lot more ideas to be found in the net that we can do with the toilet rolls. Have fun!!