How to Make an Original Pencil Pot Using Toilet Roll Tubes

This funky DIY pencil holder will cheer up your desk and help make sure you always have a pen or pencil to hand when you need one. Instead of buying a new one, help to reduce waste by re-purposing your Cushelle toilet roll tubes and giving them a second life!

Our study into household arguments revealed that 1 in 5 households will argue about empty toilet rolls being left lying around – but these cores can certainly be put to good use when it comes to arts and crafts! Ready to learn how to make a pencil case out of empty Cushelle toilet rolls? Read on for our easy DIY pencil case tutorial.

Takes about 1.5 hours

How to make your own pencil pot case:

1. Cut the toilet rolls to size. Carefully measure and cut the toilet roll tubes down to several different lengths. You can do as many as you like – the more you do the bigger and more varied your pencil pot will be!
2. Paint the insides of the tubes. Next, paint the insides of the tubes in different colours to match your wrapping paper, and leave to dry.
3. Cover the outsides with wrapping paper. Place the tubes on the wrapping paper and measure and cut pieces to cover the outsides. Then neatly wrap and stick in place with glue.
4. Glue the tubes together. Glue the tubes together one by one in a group with a hot glue gun. This is an adult’s job, but get the kids involved with the art direction!
5. Stick on the base. Open and flatten the empty tissue box, and glue the group to the middle. When dry, draw around the bottom edges of the tubes with a pencil, and cut it out.
6. Pop some pens in! Admire your finished pen pot and populate it with your favourite stationary. You can even store rulers, rubbers and paintbrushes in your DIY pencil holder. 

Now you know how to make pen holder pots, you can create unique sets for other household members and friends. You could make your own pencil case pot in all the colours of the rainbow, or use different shades of your friends’ favourite colours. How about adding some stickers onto your DIY pencil case pot? After learning the basics of how to make a pencil case, pot there are lots of ways you can experiment with personalising them.

Once they’ve got a DIY pencil holder for desk spaces, loved ones of all ages will find it easy to keep their creative space tidy. Happy crafting!