Creative handicrafts with toilet paper rolls: Windmills & planes

Crafting with toilet rolls is one of the absolute classics among DIY ideas - and for good reason! The empty rolls are super versatile and a sustainable crafting solution. With a little paint, glue and our free templates, you can create magical miniatures in no time at all. Whether as creative decoration in the children's room or as an addition to play worlds - the self-made figures bring variety to children's rooms.

Variant 1: The windmill

What you need for a windmill:

• 1 empty toilet roll
• 1 pattern bag clip
• Glue
• Scissors
• printed craft template
• Hole punch

This is how it works:

Step 1: Firstly, you need to print out our craft template. You can get this by registering via the form at newsletter. Then cut out all the parts individually along the lines.

Step 2: Then prepare the roof. To do this, push the circle together so that the two cut straight sides overlap slightly and glue them together at this point. This creates a round, pointed roof.

Step 3: The next step is to make the mill blades. To do this, pierce a hole in the two mill blades and the small circle at the point marked with the cross. You also need to make a small hole in the toilet roll where you want to attach the mill blades. The best place is slightly above the centre of the roll.

Step 4: Now you can cross the mill leaves over each other and place the small circle on top so that the holes are aligned. Now attach everything to the roll using a pattern bag clip and the hole in the toilet roll.

Step 5: Almost done! Now glue the finished roof to the top of the roll. You can also choose an animal in the window from the template and stick it onto the roll below the mill blades. Now the windmill has a little inhabitant!

Step 6: Done! Now simply use it for playing or as decoration...

Variant 2: The flyer

What you need for an aeroplane:

• an empty toilet roll
• Glue
• Scissors
• printed craft template

This is how it works

Step 1: Firstly, you need to print out our craft template. You can get this by registering via the form at newsletter. Then cut out all the parts individually along the lines.

ATTENTION: The two circles must not be separated from the large rectangle when cutting them out! They are the lids for the two openings of the roll.

Step 2: Now glue the large rectangle with the two circles around the toilet roll so that it is completely encased.

Step 3: Fold over the flaps on the circles and glue them to the roll so that the two circles cover the openings.

Step 4: Now glue the finished roll onto the centre of the wing so that the animal figures are clearly visible on the left and right. The narrow part of the wing should point towards the front of the aeroplane.

Step 5: Finally, the propellers need to be attached. Glue them to the front "lid" of the aeroplane, crossed over and on top of each other. Make sure that the propeller rests with the small point at the front.

Step 6: Get ready for take-off!