When it comes to simple Halloween crafts, you are going to love this way to reuse that empty toilet paper roll. Nothing beats making your own spooky little Halloween characters from toilet paper rolls! This tutorial shows you a simple way to make a vampire, witch, and even Frankenstein! These are great for kids, easy to make, budget-friendly, and oh so very adorable!

Halloween Characters from Toilet Paper Rolls

We've all made a toilet paper roll project at some point in our lives. They are a great upcycled item that can so easily be turned into hundreds or even thousands of new and unique things. Halloween decorations are just one of the many ways you can use them, and of course, I had to share my own version of that here with you.

You can use paper towel rolls for this project also if that is what you have on hand. I just like the already smaller size of the toilet paper rolls. It's a handy addition to your craft bucket and turns out absolutely adorable when you add them to Halloween crafts.

How Can I Hang These From the Ceiling?

I love the idea of adding these to hanging decorations around the room. Especially when making the witch and the vampire, it just makes sense that they might be flying around a room. To do that, you just need to add a little twine, fishing line, or ribbon to the top.

I like to use a needle or the end of a knife to puncture a small hole on three sides of the top. Then I can string fishing line through all three and tie together at the top. This helps them hang evenly from the ceiling. A great way to make them look better when hanging is to make sure they aren't wobbling to one side or the other.

You can also tack them directly to other decorations that are already hanging from the ceiling. You can even glue or tack them onto a wreath if you wanted to suspend them from a wall or mantle.

What Else Can I Use These For?

As a kid, I often made toilet paper roll people and brought them home from school to show my mom. I honestly have no idea what we ended up doing with them back then, but now I know that they have tons of uses around the home. Of course, the best is just basically as a decoration, but how exactly can it decorate? Below are some ideas!

Arrange them on the mantle with miniature pumpkins and other Halloween decorations.
Hang from the ceiling or ceiling fans as part of Halloween party decor.
Attach to wreaths, centerpieces, or other larger Halloween decorations.
Add paper to the bottom to seal and use them to hold pens, pencils, or crayons.
Use as puppets with kids to pretend play.
Put inside a Halloween diorama and get kids excited about making a miniature version of their space.
Use to hold name cards at place settings for a Halloween meal.

Variations of Halloween Toilet Paper People

There are so many ways to turn a paper roll into a cute decoration. We've shared a huge list of toilet paper roll crafts before, so you know we have ideas. Of course, I like these ideas best for Halloween, but you can also turn them into pumpkins, skeletons, bats, or even zombies!

Look at your favorite Halloween movies for inspiration. Nightmare Before Christmas has tons of cool ideas that could be made with toilet paper rolls. Jack Skellington, Sally, Dr. Finklestein, or even Oogie Boogie could all be made from a paper roll. Use your imagination and look to other Halloween trends for inspiration.

Supplies Needed

How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Frankenstein

Lay a paper roll at the edge of the green paper and measure off the height then cut a strip of paper to match.

Wrap the paper around the toilet paper roll and secure it with glue.

Trim off any excess paper if desired.

Add two round white stickers or draw on two white circles toward the top of the green paper roll.

Using a paint pen or marker, add black circles inside the white circles to create eyes.

Add triangles connecting upside down along the top edge of the roll to create jagged hair then fill it in with black marker or paint pen.

Draw a squiggled line for the mouth and add a few lines with stitches on the sides.

You can also add silver or black bolts on the bottom sides if desired.

How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Witch

Lay a paper roll onto the edge of black paper and measure the height then cut the strip of paper to match.

Wrap the paper around the toilet paper roll and secure it with glue.

Trim off any excess paper if needed.

On green paper, draw a rounded triangle shape for the witch face.

Cut out the face and a small strip of paper for the nose.

Add two white circle stickers for eyes at the top of the flatter end of the face. You can also draw these on with a white paint pen.

Roll the small piece of green paper and shape it into a nose, then attach it to the face toward the pointed end and bottom.

Draw a small squiggled line below the nose for the mouth. Add a black circle inside each of the white eyes.

Glue the face to the top of the black paper-covered toilet paper roll.

Cut a 2" long and ½" wide strip of orange paper.

Cut fringe into this strip of paper adding slits but not going completely through.

Roll this paper fringe onto a pen so the paper turns up a bit.

Glue this fringe to the top of the black paper roll on the top of the face so the fringe is curled upward slightly.

Using two additional pieces of orange paper that are 2" wide and 2" tall, do the same process of cutting fringe and curling the fringe.

Glue those pieces on either side of the first fringe to create hair at the side of her face.

From the black paper, cut a 4" wide circle and 4" wide at widest side, triangle.

Roll the triangle together into a cone and glue.

Glue the bottom of the triangle to the circle.

Add a strip of orange or red yarn around the base of the cone to create a hat band accent.

Glue the hat to the top of the witch head.

Add glitter or other embellishments if desired.

How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Vampire

Lay a paper roll onto the edge of cream paper and measure the height then cut the strip of paper to match.

Wrap the paper around the toilet paper roll and secure it with glue.

Trim off any excess paper if needed.

Glue two googly eyes to the top half of the paper roll to create eyes.

Draw a wide "V" at the top of the paper roll so the point is just slightly above the eyes then fill it in (this is the hair).

Add a single line in a smile for the mouth.

Cut out two small triangles from white stickers and put them onto the bottom of the mouth. You can also use a paint pen if desired.

Cut a triangle from red paper with the base around 5"-6" wide.

Fold the triangle in half and add a bit of glue on the center crease.

Glue to the back of the paper roll so the pointed end is facing downward and the flat end is even with the top of the roll.

Display as desired.

More Halloween Crafts

Halloween is so much fun to decorate your home for and this list has tons of unique ideas. You can add spooky or fun ghosts, pumpkins, bats, and more to your home with easy crafts and decor that is budget-friendly. Check out some of my favorites below and make your own spin on them today!

Crafting Tip

If you plan to make a large number of these and need extra paper rolls, you can actually buy empty paper rolls on Etsy! What a cool way to help someone else financially while getting something that you need.

Yield: 3

Spooky Halloween Characters from Toilet Paper Rolls

Follow a simple tutorial for spooky Halloween characters made from toilet paper rolls. These toilet paper roll people are sure to be a hit with your kids this Halloween!

Active Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Estimated Cost $1

Materials

Tools

Instructions

How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Frankenstein

Cut a strip of green paper to fit the height of the toilet paper roll;
Wrap the paper around the roll and secure with glue;
Add two white circles on the top portion of the roll;
Draw black circles inside the white ones to create eyes;
Add jagged black hair along the top edge and fill in with the paint pen;
Draw on a squiggly line for the mouth and add stitches on both sides of the face;

How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Witch

Cut black paper to fit the toilet paper roll;
Roll the paper around the roll and glue in place;
On the green paper, draw a rounded oval/triangle-shaped face and cut out;
Cut and roll a small piece of paper for the nose;
Add two round white stickers to the top as eyes;
Glue the nose below the eyes;
Draw on black circles in the white for eyes and add a squiggled line for a mouth;
Glue the face onto the top edge of the black paper roll;
Cut a 2" long and ½" wide strip of orange paper;
Cut fringe into this strip of paper adding slits but not going completely through;
Roll this paper fringe onto a pen so the paper turns up a bit;
Glue this fringe to the top of the black paper roll on the top of the face so the fringe is curled upward slightly;
Using two additional pieces of orange paper that are 2" wide and 2" tall, do the same process of cutting fringe and curling the fringe then glue those on either side of the roll to create hair;
Cut out a black circle and triangle about 4" wide at the large point;
Roll the triangle into a cone and glue together then attach to the top of the circle;
Add a strip of colorful yarn around the base of the cone on the hat;
Glue the hat to the top of the witch;

How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Vampire

Cut and glue cream paper to fit the paper roll;
Glue googly eyes on the top half of the roll;
Just above the eyes, draw on an inverted "V" shape then fill in with black paint for hair;
Draw a simple line smile;
Glue two white triangles to the mouth pointing downward as fangs;
Cut a triangle from red paper that is 6" wide at the base;
Glue the red triangle to the back with the pointed side down to create a cape;
Add embellishments or glitter to the people if desired then display as part of your Halloween decor.

Notes

You can use different colors of paper to create unique looks for each one. Feel free to use just googly eyes in place of the white and black eyes on some of your people.