When I started to attempt at cleaning out my studio a month or so ago, I came across a little box full of toilet paper tubes that I'd painted green, in order to make toilet paper tube cacti of course, just had not gotten around to it, for at least a year plus, sigh. The good news is that I did get around to it at last, and the results are just as cute as can be, and I wish I had time to make a whole dessert full! It is true that there are no Saguaro cacti in the Egyptian dessert, at least not native ones, but any symbol for dessert still makes it a great craft for Passover! So set aside a bunch of toilet paper tubes, and paper towel tubes, and let the family have fun painting them green, inside and out. And if you need a little project to do in the car or on a trip or for a little break with all that cleaning, learn to fold tiny paper stars, here. Okay, lets make some cacti.......
You'll Need:
- toilet paper and paper towel tubes
- green, blue, white, yellow paint
- egg carton cardboard or any cardboard painted pink
- hot glue
- a black marker if you wish to add little x's or lines to designate the prickles, which I did not
How To:
- You'll need two tubes per short cactus, and three tubes for the tall cactus (or use a paper towel tube) for my tall cactus I inserted one tp tube into another by cutting a few slits on the bottom of the top tube.
- Paint those tubes, do it messy with stripes of color, the more variety of color the better, it gives them depth and character! Don't forget to paint the inside of at least half of the tubes, and the top portion of the inside of the others (I forgot to do that, whoops.) Using pink paint paint a small piece of cardboard that rolls easily, I used part of an egg carton.
- Fold one tube so it is flat, and then with a pencil draw the outlines of arms on one side. Cut out the shapes through both layers
- Using hot glue affix the arms to the sides of the tubes.
- Cut a long scalloped strip from the pink cardboard, then cut into 1inch sections which are then rolled to form tiny flowers and buds,
- Use hot glue to affix flowers to arms of cactus.
- Wow, gorgeous! I left mine as is, but you can opt to make rows of tiny x's to designate the prickles, if you wish. Just keep the lines fine or the cacti will look cartoonish, in which case go for it and add a face!
I hope you've enjoyed this craft, and if you'd like to fold a bunch of tiny paper stars to decorate scene, you can find my tutorial here.
