DIY: Decorative Jack from Toilet Paper Rolls

I’m in the process of redecorating my bookshelves and besides books it’s nice to have great conversation pieces on the shelves as well. This decorative jack is not only a fun accent for bookshelves but would look great on mantles and tabletops as well. The one I created measured 8 ½” wide and 4 ¼” high. To see how this jack was created just keep reading. 

Materials needed for this project include: glue stick or something of similar shape (basically a round object), scissors, tape, hot glue gun, three toilet paper rolls, four table tennis balls and old newspaper or magazines 

STEPS

1)     Using scissors cut all three toilet paper rolls open creating one flat piece

2)     Cut two of the open toilet paper rolls in half. You should now have one large piece and four smaller pieces – 5 pieces in total

3)     Take glue stick or similar shaped round object and starting at one end of cut pieces roll around round object and tape in place when done

4)     Repeat step 3 for all cut pieces of toilet paper roll. You should end up with four taped small pieces and one taped large piece. See image 4

5)     Stuff all 5 rolled pieces with old newspaper or old magazines pages. Really pack the paper in. The point of this step is to reinforce the rolls so they keep their shape and will be more durable

6)     Tape off both ends of the large roll. DO NOT tape off the ends of the smaller rolls since we will be gluing items to these pieces

7)     Take one of the smaller rolls and finding the center of the large roll hot glue the small roll in place. You can be generous with the glue; you want the pieces to stick together. Once the first small piece is secure. Repeat step for the other three pieces. When done you should have something similar to image 7

8)     Take one table tennis ball and hot glue to the end of one of the small rolls. Again you can be generous with the glue. Once table tennis ball is secure repeat step for the other three small rolls.

9)     Your jack should look similar to the jack in image 9. At this point you can decorate the jack however you want. Decoupage, paint, or even bedazzle it with jewels. The possibilities are endless. Let your imagination run wild.

My original plan was to decoupage the jack in order to cover the hot glue globs and then spray paint a turquoise color but when one of my friends saw it decoupaged she thought it was neat like that so I left it alone. Maybe I’ll spray paint it sometime in the future. Until next time, allow inspiration to find you!