A few months ago a friend of mine gifted me her old wooden lighthouse that holds toilet paper and facial tissues. She had changed the decor in her bathroom and new I decorated in a coastal cottage style. Instead of tossing it into the trash, she passed it to me. I love lighthouses, but I don’t use a lot of them in my home decor…a lot of times they’re too nautical looking for me.
The toilet paper tower sat in my craft room for a few weeks until I finally got an idea on how to use it! I was going to turn it into a piece of yard and garden art! Say what? Yeah, with a few little touches you would never know it used to sit in a bathroom!
First thing was to pop out the spindle that held a roll of toilet paper. I then gave it a good over-all cleaning, inside and out. The top of the lighthouse attaches to the base via two small hinges. They were lose and looked tattered. I had hubby replace them with new hinges. The paint looked dull and faded. Well, I shined those right up by spraying the entire thing (inside and out) with 2 coats of acrylic spray sealer in a glossy finish. Wow…that brought those dingy colors to life.
The part that shows the ocean once held a facial tissues box. You flip up that hinged lid and you’ll find my little pair of garden shears and gardening gloves inside. The section that had the spindle to hold a toilet tissue roll now shows off a whelk conch shell that I had found on the beach late last year. The bottom section with the wire mesh door opens up. Inside I placed a large flameless candle that runs on batteries and a timer. Every night it comes on and stays lit for 4 hours before automatically shutting off. The light comes through the mesh door.
I think it turned out beautifully. I have it sitting on our front porch near one of our large garden planters by the front door. Everyone who has seen it…likes it, especially me. It always feels good to rescue something from the neighborhood dump and turn it into a treasure! I can use it out in my yard or on our covered porch thanks to spraying it with clear sealer. Next year I’m thinking about putting it in one of my flower gardens near our swimming pool. We’ll see!
You did a great job. This is so creative and a beautiful way to reuse trash.
This is such a creative and lovely way to use those holders. It gives just the right accent to your porch. How neat that you have a flameless candle in their at night.
I love this and it is so perfect for your front porch. I love lighthouses too and this is so cute. It is useful to know that a few coasts of clear spray will bring colors back out. I would love to see it is the light on at night.
WoW! Way to recycle, reuse & repurpose. Love it!
That turned out beautifully. You could also have been an interior decorator, you have great taste and make things work together. Thank you for sharing.
That looks just right at your house. I really like that you have a light that comes on for 4 hours.