Canada Day and the 4th of July are rapidly approaching. Here's a fun idea for adding that extra spark to your celebratory wiener and marshmallow roasts this year. While I made these patriotic toilet paper roll fire starters with Canada Day in mind, they can easily be adapted for Independence Day too.

Patriotic Toilet Paper Roll Craft

This is a great craft to do with the kids ahead of time. Whether you're spending the holiday weekend at home, the lake cottage, or camping, these homemade firecracker fire starters add an extra dose of fun around the firepit.

But the patriotic toilet paper rolls don't have to be used as fire starters. Alternatively, you could fill them with special treats to give as fun guest favors. The possibilities for what you put inside are endless!

They don't have to be patriotic either. Think family cookouts, birthdays, and other gatherings you may have planned for this summer.

Now that the great toilet paper fiasco of 2020 is over our Int'l Bloggers Club decided those coveted rolls needed to be turned into something fun or useful. I'm calling our challenge this month the Great Toilet Paper Challenge of 2020 - The Year 💩 Got Real!

If you haven't heard of our Int'l Bloggers Club, we are a group of blogging friends from around the world who come together on the third Monday of every month to share a themed DIY project. We have members from Spain, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada. I'm from a hamlet outside of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, just a few hours east of the Canadian Rockies.

You'll find links to our uber-talented group member's toilet paper roll projects further down in the post. Last month for our World Environment Day challenge I shared our Eco-Friendly Rain Barrel & Compost System.

Back to the highly sought-after golden toilet paper rolls...

What You'll Need To Make Them

Aside from TP rolls, you'll also need the supplies pictured below. I got all of mine at the dollar store. Instead of a glue stick, I found using a hot glue gun much easier.

I also used some red polka dot wrapping paper leftover from the 12 Days Of Kindness Advent Calendar I made during the holidays.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to make the Patriotic fire starters, almost all of the DIY projects shared here at Interior Frugalista have step-by-step tutorials so why not get your budget DIY on and subscribe. You can also follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

DIY Fire Starter Combustible Materials

We'll start with what combustible materials to use inside the toilet paper rolls for the fire starters. This is not intended to be a detailed tutorial of every single step but rather inspiring ideas for you to use what you have on hand for making this celebratory craft.

1. Gather your empty toilet paper rolls. I used eight to make these wiener roast fire starters.
2. Cut craft paper into 7" x 7" pieces and wrap them around the toilet paper rolls with a glue stick.
3. Fold the paper-wrapped toilet paper rolls to close the bottom opening and secure with hot glue.
4. Tamp the paper flat with a dowl or a wooden spoon from the inside of the roll. This will help them stand upright better.
5. Time to gather combustible materials from around your home. Head to the laundry room for some dryer lint and outside to forage small dead twigs and dry pine cones.
6. Fill the paper-wrapped toilet paper rolls with the items you collected.
7. Fold the paper over to close the top opening and secure it with hot glue to keep it closed.

Now it's time to decorate the fire starters in two different styles, starting with the patriotic rocket-style fire starters.   

Patriotic Firecracker Rocket Toilet Paper Roll Craft

Again, while I embellished my rocket-style TP roll fire starters for Canada Day, they can easily be adapted for the 4th of July.

These fun rocket-style fire starters are embellished with both polka-dot wrapping paper and stenciled white craft paper.

1. Embellish some of the firecrackers by wrapping them with fun red and white polka-dot wrapping paper.
2. Snip the excess paper on the top and bottom into slits and glue toward the center.
3. Use a paint can or whatever you have on hand to trace a circle for the pointed rocket tops.
4. Fold the cut circles in half and in half again. Cut one half down the center (pictured above).
5. Fold each half onto itself to form a point and glue them together.
6. Add a bead of hot glue along the top of the toilet paper roll and set the rocket lid on top, pressing firmly for a tight bond.
7. To embellish the white craft paper rolls, I reused the same stencils that I made with my Cricut Maker for the popsicle stick patriotic mini pallet drink coasters.
8. I used holiday red acrylic craft paint to stencil them.

Patriotic Firecracker Sparkler Toilet Paper Roll Craft

These fun sparkler-style fire starters are embellished with construction paper.

I found the red construction paper looked more like dark pink so I painted the sheets with holiday red acrylic craft paint first to get a true patriotic red.

1. You'll need some construction paper, scissors, and a hot glue gun or glue stick to make these.
2. For the vertical striped sparklers, cut strips of red construction paper 1" x 7" with a paper cutter and glue them on the craft paper-wrapped toilet paper rolls. I also added three 1/4" horizontal bands of wrapping paper too.
3. For the horizontal striped sparklers cut strips of red construction paper 1/2" wide and glue them onto the paper rolls.
4. To make the sparklers draw a 1/2" band along the bottom of red and white construction paper.
5. Cut 1/4" slices all across the paper. I just eyeballed them but you could pre-measure for perfectly uniform sparklers.
6. Do the same with red construction paper and glue them along the top of the fire starters.
7. Curl the sparklers by carefully wrapping them around your finger, just like when you curl a narrow ribbon for wrapping gifts.

I hope your guests get a kick out of your patriotic TP roll fire starters or guest favors.

I made a total of eight Canada Day TP roll fire starters to last the entire long weekend.

Thanks for stopping by the Interior Frugalista today! I hope you were inspired by this homemade patriotic toilet paper roll craft. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed this firecracker fire starter idea, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your Patriotic Craft Ideas or Toilet Paper Roll Crafts board on Pinterest.

Now let's go see what my talented friend's made for our toilet paper roll challenge by clicking each link below.

Toilet Paper Storage Tiny Toilet Rolls | A Crafty Mix
Toilet Paper Roll LED Lanterns | Northern Feeling
Oriental Canvas Decorated Using Toilet Paper | Unique Creations By Anita
DIY Vintage Farmhouse Napkin Rings | Raggedy Bits (not pictured)
Patriotic Toilet Paper Roll Fire Starters | Interior Frugalista (that's me)

I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.