Trash wrapping paper rolls to cheap toys on the fly

Feeling bad about the ten rolls of gift wrap you blew through this past holiday? Well, make up for your global destructiveness by tossing those empty wrapping paper tubes to the kids for oodles of quick cheap thrills. Marie from awe-inspiring family site Make and Takes has put together a fun little list of clever ideas for upcycling those empty wrapping paper rolls. My favorite idea being the "Darth Maul Light Saber." Amazing how "black “gorilla” tape, red marker, and craft foam stickers as the power buttons" can be transformed into a majorly cool Sith weapon. Playing with an empty roll might not seem like the freshest of ideas but what it is is timeless. And I think Marie's crafty ideas are worth checking out to get things rolling. Start with a few Light Sabers and fire hoses and see where the kids go next. Added bonus, tons of free fun guaranteed to kick those dormant imaginations into action and out of winter vacation hibernation all while cutting down on the trash load a bit.

(via CRAFT)