DIY- Drinking Straw Starburst

We have slowly been making our house a home since moving back to America. We have installed granite, painted our little hearts out, and have bought a few pieces of furniture. I was a little overwhelmed with moving home because I had so many ideas, and I didn't know where to put them.

In the early stages of decorating my bathroom was turning into a nautical, farmhouse, contemporary powder room. It was a disaster! I am slowly starting to understand my style, and executing it somewhat decently. I felt like once the paint dried I was ready to throw stuff on the walls. I was armed with Pinterest and ready to begin!

Disclaimer: everyone (almost) everyone that knows me, knows that I am not a crafter. In Shanghai, we had weekly craft nights and I literally only went for the girl talk and treats. I was keeping the crafters company! So when I saw this tutorial for a starburst I reviewed the steps and thought, huh, even I could do this. Easy Peasy. And...I am proud to admit, I WAS RIGHT! It was easy! I can craft! I will become the next Martha Stewart! Okay okay, lets not get ahead of ourselves. But here it is---how to make a starburst out of straws- 

Supplies- 

• A cardboard ring- I made mine from just tracing a few bowls. Use whatever you want, just make it round. Don't worry, you are going to cover it. 
• A hot glue gun 
• Drinking straws- I used about 200 for this project, but it depends how big your ring is. I got mine from the dollar store. Side note: I wish I would've found straws that did not have the bend but whatever.
• Spray Paint- I used half of a silver metallic spray paint and half a gold spray paint. Color is up to you!

Literally, that is it.

Okay, first things first. 

1. Cut out your cardboard ring 

2.Glue them in a circular pattern with little space in between. Make sure that you turn the circle every so often so its easier to see where the end of the circle is. And make sure you try and glue the end right up against the end of the cardboard line. 

(Do you like my lack of a kitchen backsplash? We're working on it.) 

(First layer- done!)

3.After you’ve got one layer glued, do another to fill in the gaps. Don't worry about perfect spacing because  you are going to do another layer and fill everything in. Go easy on the glue and try not to get it on the front of the straws. Trust me, this can happen. 

(You can, and WILL burn your finger at least two times while doing this. 

Don't say I didn't warn you.) 

4. Glue glue glue, fill, fill fill. After you have done the first and second layer with one length, add more that are at different and smaller lengths to give it some dimension. 

5. After I had put them all on I wasn't feeling it. It just looked too circular. So then, I trimmed a couple of the longer straws to break up the length and not make it different on the edges. Ahhhh.. that is better. 

6. Now you are ready to spray paint. I first stated with metallic silver. It was nice, but my bedroom was beige and I wanted it to be more brown so then I added a top (not filled in) layer of gold. I like the way it gives some definition between silver/gold and not one straight color. 

I decided to put it above my bed, because it just needed something.  To stress how much of a NOT-so-crafty person I am...when my Husband came home I said "Honey, look at what I made today! Out of STRAWS!" He said, "No you didn't...but...its...crafty." Yes, Husband. This I know.