If you're in need of a paper towel holder and don't have one make one yourself from craft items or recyclables.
It's amazing how many things are sold in stores that can be made quickly at home yourself. A paper towel holder is one of those things. The next time you're at a department or craft store pick up a couple of things or just use items you already have at home.
One way to make a paper towel holder is to get a round or square wooden piece and a wooden dowel. Screw or glue the dowel onto the middle of the wooden shape. You can bore a partial hole into the base to make it more sturdy but it's not necessary. Paint the holder and simply let it stand on the counter top. Slide the paper towels over the dowel and dispense when needed. Don't have a wooden base? No problem. Substitute a plate for the wooden base. Use contact cement to affix the dowel onto the center of the upside-down plate. Other bases you can use are a pan with no lid, a shallow wicker basket or a small piece of plywood. In place of the wooden dowel you can also use a sturdy plastic tube or even a narrow ruler. Napkin rings can also be fashioned into a dowel. You have to have plenty of them, the round kind, to glue together. Glue enough of them together to be a little longer than the paper towels are wide.
A similar set-up can be made by using two of the bases. For this design bore a hole through the center of each of the bases. Get a dowel that is slightly smaller than the hole. Glue or screw a small wooden circle, slightly larger than the bored hole, at one end of the dowel. Hang the assembly under a cabinet by using screws through the bottom of the cabinet into the sides of the wooden bases. To place the towels on the rod just remove the rod and center the paper towels in between the two bases. Now push the rod through the first base, through the paper towels and out through the second base piece.
A crude paper towel holder can be fashioned from a wire coat hanger. Unwrap the wire and lay it as flat as possible. Slide the paper towels onto the wire. Snip the ends of the wires off a couple of inches longer than the paper towels. Cut two more wires and curve the ends into small circles. At one end of each wire bend the circle in the opposite direction so that you are able to put a screw through the circle and into the bottom of a cabinet. Center the paper towels between the two wire pieces and slide the straight wire through one circle, through the paper towels and through the other circle.
Even a section of rope can be a paper towel holder. Hang two napkin rings or something else circular to the under side of the cabinet by securing them with a piece of twine. Make sure they hang low enough for the paper towels to fit. Put one end of the rope through one napkin ring and tie a knot. Feed the rope through the paper towels then through the other napkin ring and tie a knot. You'll have to untie and retie the knot each time you replace the paper towels.
