Paper Straw 101

all pictures are taken by me and please do ask for permission to share/(noncommercial) use.

Last month, one of my dearest friend, who lived in the States was finally home for after 5 years abroad. We emailed frantically before her flight to Indonesia, and she asked me, "Would you like to get something from here?" And I answered without a doubt, "Striped paper straws!" She was bewildered, thought I might ask for something more... pricier or fancier? We LOLed about that till now, how I see the exaggerated beauty of striped paper straws or being a "paper straw nerd". So here I am, the nerd, giving you the lesson, on why paper straws are really pretty, functional, and underrated. *cough* ahem. Let's begin Paper Straw 101 

The number one reason you've got to love them, is they are pretty cheap and add a dash to your purpose; party, baking, or craft, quite easily too, without any cratfing skill or whatsoever needed. You are also saving the earth if you choose to use paper straws instead of their plastic counterpart. I've been a user of plastic straws my whole life, and my sole fear of using paper straws would be the liquid bleeding through or it gets mushy after it soaked -or sipped- long enough. Read this for I tested it myself : it's not regular paper and as long as you're not chewing it like crazy, the paper is very well sturdy. I soaked mine for 24 hours non stop then it's finally to grow limp a little. Your party wouldn't last that long, isn't it? 

My friend bought these via Bake Sweet Etsy, and according to the seller, they are made in USA, made by 100% recycled paper, bio-degradable, free of bleach and chlorine, and an FDA approved ink for the stripes. I told my friend to purchase from ebay or amazon instead, but she said that the lower prize might not bear the same quality and spesification, and since this is a "paper" straw you'd stuck in your mouth and your drink/food, I'd better stick with the higher quality instead. But the choice depends on your purpose, though. These are the paper straw up close. Pretty neat,eh? You can't barely seen the overlapping paper here. No leakage! 

                            

Technical things : covered! Now let's move our lesson to a more exciting part. Decorating with paper straws!! They come in every prints and colors, my friend only bought me stripes one, so I'll mention them with the colors only from now. If you are, like me, captivated with all the colors available, do stick to classic  primary hues. Like this red, for instance. 

Red alone is great for parties with theme such as : 

carnival, circus, christmas, (why did the first 3 begin with a C?) folk-ish forest friend, snow white, baseball, ladybug, cat in the hat, classic train, cars, strawberries, and fire engine. 

With other colors red could be used in theme, such as : 

pirate (with black or gray), nautical (with navy blue), christmas (with green), any girly theme (with pink), any boyish theme (with baby blue), sock monkey (with blue or yellow), and watermelon (with black and green).

But don't count out un-popular colors too, like this one in gray. I think they are really understated, it's one of my favorite colors, and to achieve manly, grown up, or neutral theme party, this one is a must! 

Gray alone could be used in a baby elephant themed, baby whale, grown up halloween, rustic chic, baby hippo, any white related theme (to add dimension, there's no white striped straws is there?), rock and roll, vintage,  and so on. See? It's not lesser than red in theme count.  

And paper straws can also be used outside drinking matters. Don't believe me, check out this links provided from the craftiest people in the blogosphere  : 

1. cupcake topper 
2. cakepop holder, see here also. 
3. wreath, a great how-to here
4. garland, I know it's hard to believe, but it's true! 
5. napkin ring and table centrepiece.  

See? Don't you love paper straws by now? Do tell me your ideas or link, and share me your ideas on how to use lovely, practical paper straws! 

 

BTW, If you happen to live in Indonesia, my friend bought me too many, so if you'd like to get your hands on these paper straws yourself, please email me. I got the paper straws in these colors, although they are not in the same quantity :

1. light gray
2. bright red
3. lime green
4. navy blue
5. pastel yellow
6. pastel pink
7. pastel green
8. pastel blue

Be promptly quick! These are running out of my hands very fast! For those of you who live in US, Europe, or AUS do check out Etsy, Amazon, or Ebay, those are a great source of paper straws stock!

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