You were missing a good DIY project, right? Here’s a brand new one that will teach you how to create paper straws and how to dye them with coffee!
They are there every time you open your mailbox: flyers, newspapers, magazines… You might actually read half of them, but they will eventually end up in the trash can. How about we suggest a way to recycle those elements by turning them into paper straws? This is a really great DIY recycling project to do with your kids and family in the afternoon!
Trash is a huge problem today, even when it comes to recyclable elements like paper. It’s always better to give paper a second life, and here’s one way to do it!
Spoiler alert: those will decorative straws, not the ones you use in cocktails!
We’ll start with the coffee dye
Take a paper towel (of the heavy-duty kind) and place a tbsp of ground coffee in the middle of it. Hold the corners of the napkin holding it like it was a small bag and making sure one of the coffee is coming out. Then:
- Place the “napkin bag” under gently running water in order to get the coffee-holding part a little bit wet
- Squeeze the napkin to get rid of excess water
- Brush the paper you want to dye with the wet coffee part of the napkin
- Let it to dry – it might take a few minutes
Let’s make the straws
Now you have your coffee-dyed paper, and it’s time to create the straws:
- Place a skewer or a knitting needle on the upper edge of one of the paper sheets
- Roll it until the needle is completely wrapped – the paper has to be tight around it
- Put some glue to the bottom part of the paper sheet and finish rolling the straw to complete it
- Take out the needle and repeat the process for the other straws
Great…now what do I do with them?
You might be thinking that this was fun to do…but what can you do with them now? Here’s a few suggestions:
- Ethnic straw-made blinds for your windows
- Woven décor
- Woven baskets
- Mini Christmas trees
- Woven coasters
- Woven bowls
- And much more!!
Now it’s your time to get creative! What are you going to do with your coffee-dyed straws? If you are a DIY enthusiast, stay tuned and make sure not to miss the many DIY projects we periodically publish on our blog!
