DIY Toddler “Toilet Paper”: White T-Shirt Upcycle Craft

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Today’s quick upcycling tutorial will show you how to reuse old t-shirts and make them into fake “toilet” paper.  In the past, I’ve used old white t-shirts to make dog toys, no-sew headbands, and even fake toddler tissues.  So, I’m not new to upcycling old t-shirts!  I’ve had a lot of white t-shirts to find ways to reuse since my husband goes through them like crazy.

I Needed to Outsmart My Toddler

If you’re scratching your head trying to figure out why I needed to repurpose a white t-shirt into faux toilet paper. here’s why.

To a toddler, there is nothing more satisfying it seems than pulling all the toilet paper off the roll while Mommy tries to use the bathroom in peace!  Every time I sit down, the first thing my 11 month old does is stand up and unroll the toilet paper.  It’s maddening, and she’s a little too young to expect to understand not to do this.

So instead of fighting a losing battle, I outsmarted our sweet tiny dictator by making faux toilet paper to put on an old toilet paper roll.  It’s not for her to use, of course, but rather for her to unroll.  And then I re-roll. it  And she unrolls it.  Then, the cycle continues, just with no wasted paper!

Toddler White Shirt Toilet Paper Supplies:

  • White t-shirts
  • Scissors
  • Toilet paper roll
  • Tape

How to Make DIY Toddler Toilet Paper:

This is super simple to do. I first cut off the hem of the bottom of the shirt. I know, not my best cutting job ever in this picture!  My daughter doesn’t care about my cutting abilities at her age, so I’m a little sloppy with quick projects sometimes.


Then, cutting width-wise, I cut a little less than a toilet paper sized width of fabric off. The fabric is still in a circle, so I simply cut it to make one long rectangle of fabric. This is essentially my “toilet paper.”

I then taped the end of the “toilet paper” to the toilet paper roll. It took several pieces of tape to keep it attached.


I then rolled it all up, hung it in the bathroom, and waited for my daughter to do her thing! She loved unrolling the “toilet paper” in one quick motion, and I loved that I could re-roll it without any waste.


Just as a side note: When I made the “toilet paper” too wide, it was too heavy and came unrolled on its own accord. It took some trial and error to make the perfect width of toilet paper to get it to stay!

What do y’all think?  Any hints to keep my daughter from her toilet paper roll fascination?

How do you reuse old t-shirts?

White T-Shirt Upcycle_Play TP for Toddler