Flared tube printing is a fun way to recycle cardboard tubes to make vibrant works of art.

Printing is a fun paint-based activity for all ages. Flared tube printing is a classic activity which uses prints made from recycled cardboard tubes. They’re quick to make, effective and fun to use. You can just make print patterns for fun, or you could use the finished designs to make something else. If you have large sheets of paper you could make your own wrapping paper or you could add decoration once the prints have dried and turn them into pictures (see below for ideas).

Stuff Needed:
  • Cardboard tubes (toilet roll or kitchen roll tubes are ideal).
  • Scissors.
  • Paint.
  • A flat container to put paint in (e.g. a plate).
  • Paper to print on.
  • (Optional) Coloured pens or crayons / stickers / glitter and a glue stick for decoration afterwards.
Instructions:
  1. Make cuts all around one end of each tube. Each cut should be about the same length, but you can make each tube different. For example, if you have four tubes you could make very short cuts around the first tube, mid-length cuts around the second, long cuts around the third, and make cuts very close together around the fourth one. Experiment and see which patterns you like best!
To make the flared tube prints, make cuts around one end of each tube. Vary the length and spacing to make different prints.
  1. Prepare a space to paint. You will probably want to make a few pictures so you’ll need a separate space ready to put your pictures to dry.
  1. Put some paint onto a flat surface (a paper plate is ideal for this). You can put two colours on the same plate if you want to.
Use a flat surface for the paint. You can use two complementary colours together.
  1. Dip the flared end of the tube into the paint and press it onto your paper.
Press the paint-coated flared tube onto the paper to make a print.

Note

Straight cuts work better than curved or zig-zag ones. You can make lots of cuts very close together or very long (or very short) cuts to make different patterns. Vary the spacing for different effects. If you have tubes with different sized openings (that are a thin enough card to cut) you can also make different sized circles.

Adding decoration to make pictures

Once the paint is dry you can add decoration using coloured pens, crayons, stickers or glitter to make your flared tube printing patterns into pictures.

Orange and yellow flower garden made with flared tube prints.
Circular stickers and green felt-tip pens are being used here to turn orange and yellow prints into flowers.
Flared tube printing: Pink and white firework scene on black paper.
Light coloured paint has been used on black paper to make prints that look like fireworks. Glitter and tiny metallic stars have been added with glue afterwards to complete the effect.
Flared tube printing: A butterfly made by putting three prints onto one side of a piece of paper, then folding it in half to make a mirror image.
This butterfly was made by folding the paper in half when the paint prints were still wet. A black pen was used after the paint was dry to add a body.