Well here is a question you never worried about before; Exactly how much do I hoard drinking straws?
A. I pick up a package here and there, on occasion, when I see nifty patterns at reasonable prices.
B. More than a normal person should. As of now, my collection of drinking straws takes up two toddler-sized plastic bins in my pantry, thus forcing me to store cereal in the basement
C. My drinking straws are not a collection, they are a lifestyle.
Answer: D. Al of the above. And then some.
This is the part where I show you a pretty picture of my drinking straw collection, but sadly, I’m not willing to do that. I don’t want to take them out of their pretty plastic bags. They are all nicely organized and snug in their spots. Sometimes I’ll let the runts of the litter come out and play and I’ll style them up for photos, but that is it. It’s a problem. So much of a problem I have told myself I will not buy anymore until I have used up at least half of what I have now. I have dreams of another big himmeli chandelier, but for now, I’m starting small with starbursts!
These are so easy!
Materials
Plastic drinking straws (25-35 per starburst, plan on more if your straws are thin)
Zip Ties (do not buy from the Dollar Store – the plastic is brittle and tends to break)
Scissors
Optional: pliers
Instructions
If your straws have a bendy arm at the end, trim it off, then trim the rest of your straws to the same length. The closer in length, the more spherical they will come out. Personally, I like them a bit staggered, so I don’t worry about varied lengths.
Bundle together around 25 straws, draw the zip tie around the exact middle, then pull. Pull as hard as you can. Then fold back some of the straws so they touch in the middle. You’d expect the plastic to bend back eventually, but honestly, they don’t. They just hold their shape like good little soldiers. You can crank out 100 of these in an afternoon if you want.
If your fingers aren’t strong, get some pliers to help you out. Personally, I don’t need pliers, but then I invited my friend Noeleen to help make these and she was all “IT’S TOO HARD.” And I was all “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THESE COULD NOT BE EASIER???” And she was all “I’M GOING TO BE HELPFUL AND VIDEO YOU DOING THIS INSTEAD.” This is how that went:
Lesson here. It took about 10 attempts to get this on video because the zip ties kept snapping (blooper reel here). This is why you don’t use the zip ties from the Dollar Store. Go spend the extra dollar at the hardware store. It’s totally worth it.
And there you have it folks. I had no need to add hangers because they just poke in my artificial Christmas tree easy-peasy. If you are using them on a real tree, you might want to grab a needle and thread. Or just don’t put them in a tree. They’d look great in a bowl on a coffee table all year round. Listen, I don’t know. You tell me. But these are nifty as all get out and you are going to want to try one.
Merry Christmas from the funkiest tree in Chicago!
I think that both of the video links go to the blooper reel. Although it may be my computer….. because I looked that the blooper one first, of course.
nope — you were right. Fixed. Thanks!
Okay these are so fierce. And I now know why you have more than one tree. I have one tree and I have to change out ornaments each year because everything won’t fit. These are going on the list to be made for next year.
Why limit trees or ornaments? More is more. More is awesome.
I feel like I need to make some and then spray paint them.
Yeah — I was thinking about maybe doing some and spray painting gold. You’d thinking someone would hurry up and sell gold straws already!
Bring back Friday Flowers!
Maybe in the spring? Only so many paper flowers I can keep in the house!
These are brilliant! I’m always saving drinking straws in hopes of doing something fun and crafty like this!
I AM TOTALLY MAKING THESE!! TONIGHT. <3
I love your straw star bursts! They look a lot easier than the 4th of July recycled water bottle pouff thingy I made! I have a hidden stash of straws around here somewhere & if I can find them I shall make some! 😀
These are radical!
Love the idea. More fun with Starbursts.. Just put a line of fishing wire or string through the (approx) center straw before cinching the zip tie tight and bending the straws. Keep adding more Starbursts. Pretty soon you have a Garland. Or… Use a piece of metal wire or a metal coat hanger straightened out to make it into a wreath.
This is a great idea for counting & colour naming. This is fun!