DIY Snowflake Decorations (from Toilet Paper Rolls!)

Reuse old toilet paper rolls this holiday season to make inexpensive, but also beautiful, DIY snowflake decorations.

These toilet paper roll snowflakes are easy to make and can be customized in different ways. They can be hung on your tree as snowflake ornaments, from a mantle or shelf, or on picture frames, walls or windows throughout your home

Toilet paper roll snowflakes are also a great handmade gift idea for students or older kids to give to their parents or loved ones. I’ve created these DIY snowflakes with my 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders over the last several years. If you’re looking for an inexpensive holiday craft to do with your students in the classroom, this project might be the perfect fit!

In this post you’ll find a video tutorial, variations on how to make snowflake ornaments, and a few different design ideas!

Although these snowflakes are extremely inexpensive to make, they end up looking like beautiful, sparkling pieces of art! Plus, they can stay up as decorations well past Christmas as winter decorations.

Supplies to Make Snowflake Ornaments

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• toilet paper roll (or paper towel roll)
• hot glue or double sided glue dots
• white glue or spray adhesive
• glitter (glass glitter looks especially pretty on these!)
• twine for hanging

How to Create the Snowflake Shape

1. Cut Toilet Paper Rolls

The first step is to collect up some empty toilet paper rolls or paper towel tubes.  One toilet paper tube will make one snowflake.

Next, crease the tube down flat, and cut it into 6 strips about 3/8 inch thick. Then, use the leftover amount of tube to cut 6 thin strips, about 1/4 inch thick.

2. Arrange pieces into a snowflake shape

Take the 6 thicker pieces of the tube and arrange them together in a snowflake shape. Use hot glue or double sided glue dots to glue the points of the tube to one another near the center.

White glue does not work as well for this step, as you need to hold together each piece and allow it to dry before moving on to glue the next piece. (I made the mistake of giving 6th graders tacky glue for this step. I had a lot of kids give up halfway through because they were sick of holding it together to dry!)

Snowflake Design Ideas

Snowflake Design 1

Take the thin tubes and fold them in half. Then, glue those folded pieces to the inside of each tube ring. (You can apply the glitter to the small pieces before gluing them in for great glitter coverage. Or, apply glitter to the whole snowflake at once a the end.)

Snowflake Design 2

Glue the small folded pieces to the outside of each tube ring, forming points on the outside of the snowflake.

Snowflake Design 3

You’ll need an extra toilet paper roll for this, but you can also glue the small folded pieces to both parts of the snowflake as well!

As you can probably see, you can continue to add large pieces or pieces folded in half to extend the design to make large snowflakes.

3. Add Paint and/or Glitter to the Snowflake

You can customize the look of your snowflake ornament by painting the toilet paper rolls or applying the glitter in different ways.

Paint the Tube First

If you want to give the toilet paper roll some color, you’ll want to paint it before adding the glitter. I spray painted one in white and one in black to try out different looks, but you could use any color of any type of paint here to completely customize the look.

Add Glitter with White Glue

If you’re looking for a ton of sparkle on your snowflake, I’d recommend using white glue.

The only downfall with this method is that it’s difficult to get the glue into all of the grooves and on both the inside and outside of the flake. It’s possible, just a bit messy. I found it helpful to add the glitter to the small folded pieces first, before gluing them to the large snowflake.

If you wanted to add glitter to the inside of the snowflake, you’ll want to do that before gluing in the small folded pieces.

Add Glitter with Spray Adhesive

This method for applying the glitter is much faster than using white glue. After gluing together all the pieces of your snowflake, simply spray it with spray adhesive.

This allows you to easily apply glue in any area of the snowflake. Then, add glitter and let dry.

The downside to using spray adhesive is that I’ve found the glitter doesn’t stick quite as well as compared to white glue.

If you’re going to be moving these around a lot or in a place where they will be touched often, I’d recommend using white glue. If you’re just hanging them for display, spray adhesive will work just fine.

4. Tie with String or Twine

Use ribbon, jute twine, or any other strong to form a loop for hanging.

Tips for Making this Holiday Craft in the Classroom

This DIY holiday craft would be perfect for classrooms with older students. Upper elementary students, middle school students and high school students should be able to easily create these snowflakes (without making a massive mess of glitter, in most cases).

Here are a few tips I’ve found help to make this classroom Christmas craft a success:

• Use double sided glue dots (unless you have access to a decent amount of hot glue guns!)
• If you’re having students paint their snowflakes, have them assemble and paint on the first day. Then, on a second day have them add the glitter.
• I’ve only had students use white glue to attach the glitter. They’ve come up with some cool variations of colorful glitter!
• Make a glitter station (a couple of desks pushed together with a plastic tablecloth on top). Have all the students apply the glue at their seats, and then go to the glitter station to add the glitter.
• Put a large drop cloth or table cloth on the ground to catch all the glitter that will inevitably get on the ground. Your custodian will thank you!
• You could have students glue a small picture of themselves in the middle to give as a gift (although middle schoolers will not like this idea)!

You could use these as DIY ornaments, make a garland out of them, hang them in your windows, or use them as little stocking ornaments. I may try to make a full wreath with them this year!

Let me know if you make these in the comments below. Feel free to share your tips or other variations to create unique designs.

Even More DIY Christmas Decorations