Autumn Crafting: Toroidal Apples & Pumpkins

I can't get enough of the awesome eco-friendly crafts made from those empty cardboard tubes! First I made the pillow boxes, then for Halloween I turned them into bats, and this week I made these toroidal apples and pumpkins! I got the idea from this YouTube video of a Google hangout hosted by Maggy Woodley from redtedart featuring other bloggers and discussing different crafts to make using cardboard tubes (or as they say in the video "loo rolls" *giggles*). Anthea from zingzingtree briefly shared the how to for a simply torus shape; and I instantly thought it resembled the paper strip or duct tube pumpkins. So I decided to make a few to see how they really looked, and boy was I surprised!

Aren't they stupendous?! If you want to decorate this season with these toroidal apples & pumpkins, check out the tutorial below!

Materials I Used:
~ cardboard tubes
~ paint & brushes
~ ruler
~ pencil
~ scissors
~ tape





1) Paint the exterior of the cardboard tube with at least one coat of paint then let dry completely overnight.

2) Choose a side for the "bottom" of the apple/pumpkin. Measure in 1 centimeter towards the center and draw a line. This is the "core of the apple or pumpkin.

3) Now on that line, measure and dot out every 18 millimeters.

4) Use the scissors to cut strips up to the 18 millimeter marks.

5) Pop open the tube, separate the strips, and bent to fold the tube into a ring.

6) Use tape to secure the ends together and sort of squish the circles to form the apple/pumpkin shape.

Of course you can leave it how it is but you could also paint the insides of the tubes, stack them to create a topiary, or add stems and leaves to give them a slightly more realistic appearance!

There are so many crafts to make from this toroidal tube, so be sure to save all those empty rolls and check back later for another protuberant tutorial!