I would love to be able to say that we do not use paper towels in our home, but with all of our pets, paper towels are a necessary evil. I know that almost everybody uses them for something and there is a bit of a joke in our family that involves my father and his paper towels. When my husband and I were at the Old House Parts store in Maine, I thought of an idea for a Christmas gift for my dad - a paper towel holder made from vintage house parts. I thought my brother would appreciate one also, so we bought the materials to make one for each of them. It was a great collaboration between my husband and I - I thought of the idea, he made it happen.
What we bought for each paper towel holder: one door knob and one base that is a piece from an old light. My husband then used copper pipe, a copper end piece, and a screw, washer, and nut. And of course a roll of paper towels to complete the gift. The knob is removed to place the paper towel onto the holder.
I apologize for the poor quality photos. We were in the garage late afternoon on Christmas Eve - not the best lighting. Here is how we made them.
1. Cut a 1/2" diameter copper pipe to a length that is about 9.5" inches or 1" shorter than a paper towel roll.
2. Our lamp base already had a hole in the center of it. If you are using something that doesn't, you'll have to drill the hole. Then determine what size screw you will need.
3. Solder a copper end cap, same diameter as the copper pipe, onto one end of the pipe.
4. Predrill a hole through the center of the cap. (This step is just to keep the next larger drill bit centered, so this should be smaller than the actual drill bit size needed.)
5. Using the appropriate sized drill bit for your lamp base hole and screw, drill a larger hole through the end cap.
6. Use a drill bit extension in order to place the screw inside the bottom of the end cap.
7. Push the end of the screw through the hole in the lamp base and secure with a washer and nut. The base is complete.
8. The only thing we had to do to the doorknob was wrap the end with a bit of electrical tape to increase the diameter so it fit more securely in the copper pipe.
If you have to use paper towels, best to do it in repurposed vintage style!
