From Pinterest to Project: Holiday Straw Wreath

I love paper straws and I LOVE all the different colors and patterns they come in these days. Its hard to keep myself from just buying them all when I see them. So when I came across a tutorial on Pinterest for a paper straw holiday wreath I knew I had to make it.

Buying smaller packs of straws locally wasn’t the most economical way to go, so when I found a pack of 144 red and white striped straws on Amazon for just $4.99 I took advantage of the final days of my Amazon Prime trial and ordered them. The tutorial called for 75 straws, so this meant that ideally I could make two wreaths from this one box of straws. $2.50 per wreath is a pretty great deal!

You don’t need much to get started for this project! I actually had most of the supplies on hand and only had to purchase the straws and some ribbon for a bow.

• Paper straws – 50-75 per wreath
• Cardboard
• Wide ribbon – to cover your cardboard “wreath” and to make a bow
• Thin ribbon – for the hanger on the back
• Hot glue & glue gun (or other fast drying glue)

The tutorial called for a foam wreath form, but I didn’t have one on hand and didn’t feel like going out to buy one. So I cut a ring out of thick cardboard instead. I wanted the wreath to hang flat against the wall so this helped accomplish it. I used two bowls to measure out the ring and then covered it with some red and white snowflake ribbon. You don’t really see the ribbon from the front, but you should still pick something that matches your straws. Plus it gives the back a nice clean and finished look.

Once you have your “wreath form” ready its time to decided how you want your straws to look. I liked the way the wreath in the tutorial looked, so I went ahead and cut 2 inches off half of the straws I was going to use.

I alternated between the long and short straws until I had the whole thing covered.  I used around 60 straws, but of course it would take more if you had a larger wreath form than I did. Mine had a 6″ diameter.

After all the straws where on I glue a ribbon on the back to hang it from. I wanted to add some aqua to the wreath since a good portion of my Christmas decor is Red, White, and Aqua so I picked up a roll of super cute penguin ribbon. I added the bow and then glued a “snowball” to the middle of it.

Since the only things I had to purchase were the straw and some ribbon, it only ran me about $5.50 to make the wreath – plus I have enough straws and ribbon to make a second one. I was very happy with how the wreath turned out and now I want to make one for every holiday. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for paper straws in the clearance bins from now on.