How To Make Unique & Fun Toilet Paper Holder | FREE PLANS

Building this toilet paper holder step by step​

Step 1 | Preparing the body parts​

I started drawing the shape on a piece of MDF. 
To make it easy for you, I am offering a free plan that you can use for this project.
It contains all the dimensions you need.
You can get this plan in the download area above. 

I cut the shape in 2 steps.
The first step was rough cutting with the jigsaw. 
I kept a small distance from the pencil lines.

Before I could start the second step in cutting these pieces, I had to prepare a bit.

Because I wanted two exactly equal pieces, I wanted to sand these pieces in 1 operation.
That’s why I used the following trick.

I have placed the parts in the mirror image.
I applied painter’s tape to the two parts.
On one part, I applied a drop of CA glue to the painter’s tape, and on the other, I sprayed the painter’s tape with the accelerator spray. 

Gluing the two pieces together in this way allowed them to be worked together and then easily detached.

The second step was to sand off the excess wood with my drill press drum sander.
With this drill press drum sander, you can easily sand round shapes.

Step 2 | Assembling the body​

To connect the two body parts, I first measured the width of a toilet paper roll.
I made sure, when the holder is finished, that the toilet paper protrudes a little bit outside the sheep.
That way the finished product has a nice full shape.

To work safely, I made these spacers on my crosscut sled.
This allows you to cut small pieces quickly and safely.

I affixed the spacer blocks to the right place with CA glue and then strengthened the connection with a nail.
I used my nailgun for this.
If you do not have a nailgun, you can use a normal nail.

Definitely consider buying a nailgun, the price for these devices is low, and I must admit that now that I have a nailgun I use it for almost any project.
I use this nailgun and I can highly recommend it.
Check out the review video I made on my nailgun here.

The holes caused by the nailgun were filled with a self-made wood filler.

Step 3 | Making the legs​

You can use round wood to make the legs which you can find in the hardware store, but I made this round wood myself on my table saw.
For this, I used my dowel maker jig that is mounted on my crosscut sled.

Now you may wonder, is it worth making those dowels yourself?
I have made them myself because I enjoy it and afterward have the honor of saying that I made everything myself.
But every person is different and has other priorities.

I cut the round wood with the crosscut sled to a length of 10cm (3.93 “).

After cutting, I placed the legs where I wanted to attach them to the body and transferred the shape of the body to the legs with a pencil.

Now that I had transferred the shape, I could make a flat side in the legs.
Because of the flat side, there was a good connection between the legs and the body, so I could glue it with CA glue.

Step 4 | Making the head​

Once you have downloaded the plan, you will also have the measurements for the head of this sheep.

I drew all sizes on the leftover MDF board I used for the body. 

Before I started cutting, I drilled with a spade drill in the bends that are too small to work with the jigsaw and the drum sander.
In this way, the short bends (at the ears) are neatly finished.

For the cutting, again I worked in two steps.
First roughly cut with the jigsaw and then touch up with the drum sander.

Now that the head was ready, it only had to be connected to the body.

For that connection, again I used a piece of round wood.

Where the head was connected to the round wood, I made a flat piece with the chisel.
In this place, I could apply CA glue and glue the head with the round wood.
With a few nails, I made the connection even stronger.

The head with the round wood was now attached to the body with a screw. 
Do not forget to pre-drill with a drill bit just smaller than the diameter of your screw, to avoid splitting the wood.

To finish the toilet paper holder I painted it black with a black paint spray.

I chose black because I like the color contrast with the white of the toilet paper, but also because of the resemblance to a real sheep.

There you go, the toilet paper holder is now ready.

I am already looking forward to the reactions of my guests after they visit the toilet.