The Most Adorable DIY Napkin Rings

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Transform Toilet Paper Rolls into napkin rings

We love crafting with materials that would otherwise be recycled or thrown away. And toilet paper rolls seem like the perfect tool for making napkin rings. TP rolls are easy to paint, cut, or mold into different shapes. And it's fairly easy to glue other paper products or craft items (like google eyes!) to them. With a diameter of 1.5 inches, they are also the perfect size for holding a fabric or paper napkin.

How to Make an Adorable DIY Napkin Ring

Creating a napkin ring out of a toilet paper roll is quite simple. The kids wanted to make animals. So, our goal was to transform our TP rolls into an adorable owl and squirrel. We focused on the face the most, and then added wings and ears as finishing touches. The main components of our napkin rings were: 

1. Body. To create our critter's body, we simply cut a TP roll in half and covered it with colored construction paper (yellow paper for our owl and brown paper for our squirrel).
2. Face. Our animals' facial features are the primary focus of the napkin ring. We added googly eyes, hand drawn features (like eyelashes), a beak for our owl, and teeth for our squirrel. 
3. Ears & Wings. We used colored construction paper to cut out and glue on our animals' ears and wings.

Once you complete your DIY napkin rings, be sure to display them! Kids can feel proud of their work, which will surely add to the festive mood of your meal. You might also consider gifting your napkin rings to grandparents, neighbors or teachers. 

SUPPLIES:

• Empty TP rolls
• Colored paper
• Scissors
• Clear Elmer's Glue
• Black sharpie
• Googly Eyes

INSTRUCTIONS:

SQUIRREL!

1. Cut and Cover a TP Roll. Start by cutting an empty TP roll in half.* Measure the width of your TP roll on brown paper and mark it with a sharpie. Cut out a strip of paper, add glue to the strip, and roll your TP roll along it so the paper covers the whole thing. 

2.Start Gluing! Follow the pattern below on white paper to cut out and glue on the TP roll. These are the squirrel's teeth. Then glue two googly eyes a little bit above the teeth. Finally, follow the ears pattern below on brown paper to cut out and glue on the inside (front) of the TP toll.

3.Draw the Rest! Use a black sharpie to add facial features and body as pictured (or however you like). I included a nose, whiskers, mouth, eyelashes, and little paws holding an acorn 🙂

OWL!

1.Cut and Cover a TP Roll! Start by cutting an empty TP roll in half.* Measure the width of your TP roll on yellow paper and mark it with a sharpie. Cut out a strip of paper, add glue to the strip, and roll your TP roll along it so the paper covers the whole thing. [see squirrel pictures above]

2.Paper & Glue! For the eye area, trace two pennies side-by-side on tan paper and cut out the shape. Cut out a small red triangle upside down for the beak. Copy and cut out the shape below on yellow paper for the ears. And finally, cut out two yellow wings. Glue the eyes and beak to the owl's face, as pictured . [Wait on the ears and wings til the end]

3.Final touches! Use a black sharpie to add feathers onto the owl's belly and eyelashes above the eyes (as pictured below). Finally, glue googly eyes to the circles. My final step is to glue the ears to the inside (front) of the TP roll and the wings to the sides.

*For toddlers especially, these tasks may require adult supervision and/or assistance.