Recycled Cardboard Tube Logs, A Fun Craft For Lag B’Omer!
Here's a fun recycled cardboard tube craft, in this case I used paper towel tubes, that is perfect just about any time really……though of course with the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer coming up, that is what I have made them for. Lag B'Omer involves bonfires, generally really huge ones in our neck of the woods, so all things log and campfire related are perfect. It is true, many Lag B'Omer bonfires are fueled by olive oil, or made from towers of crates and palettes and old furniture, but logs are just so much cuter, I'm sure you'll agree!
So lets make a bunch of cute logs, faux bois style, shall we? Oh, haven't heard of faux bois? That may just be a crafting faux pas, so lets get you up to steam. Faux bois means fake wood, namely anything with a wood grain pattern or made to look like branches, even sculpted. Are you with me? Now lets get crafting and doodling!
You'll Need:
- cardboard tubes, like toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes, though any tubes will of course suffice
- a black permanent marker (or a brown one if you want a less cartoon-like look….)
- colored paper or craft foam
- glue of some kind, hot glue or high tack craft glue (a better choice though not as quick)
How To:
- Draw patterns of wood grain on your tubes. Make sure to have a nice variety of thick and thin lines and don't overcrowd the pattern.
- Now, cover the ends, I love the look of the colors, you may prefer brown, you decide.
- I covered the ends by making a circle with tabs and then inserting it into the ends. I did this with both paper and craft foam, with honestly very mixed results. For more perfect looking results I'd take another tube of the same kind, and cut a vertical slit in it and make it slightly smaller. (You only need an inch or so of this smaller tube, so you can get at least three or so from one tube.) Then cover the end with a circle with tabs, though the tabs can be glued to the outside of this tube. Then insert this end piece into your doodled log for a nice finish. Gonna try this myself and get back to you on this one, but I think it is worth the effort.
Happy crafting!
Faux bois (from the French for false wood) refers to the artistic imitation of wood or wood grains in various media. The craft has roots in the Renaissance with trompe-l'œil.
