Monday, July 25, 2011

Shaken AND Stirred: A Striped-Paper-Straw Drink Stirrer Tutorial

As some of you may already know, striped paper straws just tug away at my heart strings.


Sigh.  My heart still skips a beat at the sight of them.  So I knew that I couldn't resist ordering even more straws after the first order came in and I could touch, see & feel them in real live person.

This time I took the advice of fellow Bee, Almost Mrs-Oka & ordered them from Amazon via Kikkerland ($4.99 for 144 of them!).

But I didn't know just what I would do with them.  Then I got to thinking and besides having straws for our soda bar -- I just knew that drink stirrers would be just the ticket to squeeze in even more striped-paper-straw dreaminess.

There was great striped-straw-inspiration all over the wedding biosphere.  Just check it out for yourself!
Awesome DIY Tutorial for Drink Flags

These super-sweet straws don't have to be just for Cupid's Day.
Image via Shabby Chic Crafts / DIY Tutorial at Papermash

Glue Gun + Felt + Striped Paper Straw = Adorable Perfection!
Image & DIY Tutorial via The Knotty Bride

How cute is this? Paper straws AND drink charm... all. in. one!

I decided to mix it up... I had too many paper crafts on my wedding to do list and wanted something quick, down & dirty & oh-so-adorable to boot.  That's when I spotted Peach Pearl's super simple ribbon drink stirrer tutorial.  How perfect are these?! 

Image & DIY Tutorial via Peach Pearl

So with my striped paper straws, some ribbon that was on sale at A.C. Moore and a pair of scissors, I got down to work.  And here's how they turned out!  

(All pics from here on out are taken by me!)

Now that I'm done, I just need some kind of low-ball drink to stir and I'm set!!

Just incase anyone in the hive wants to recreate this super easy DIY project, let me walk you though what I did.

Here is what you'll need:


  • Striped Straws
  • Scissors
  • Ribbon of your choice
First I put the straw into a similar-sized glass that low-ball drinks will be served in at the wedding (or you can just do the ones that you know you're using, but I didn't have that luxury).



Then I snipped the top of the straw where I saw fit.


This first one served as my "template" for all future stirrers.


Next put the ribbon around the stirrer, measuring it longer than I thought necessary, since some of the length would be lost in the knot.

Next, cut the ribbon and even out the sides so that they are even with each other.


Take both sides together and create a knot, making sure that it ends up really close to the base of the straw/stirrer.

Through the loop...

Pull it tight & taDa!! I cut the ends to make them even more adorable after I realized that it need a lil' something else.

And there you have your super-cute drink stirrer.  I was going to just put them out with a little sign that said "Shaken AND Stirred," but I read online somewhere that some bride spent so much time on her drink stirrers & people forgot to take them(!).  If she had to do it all over again, she would have given them to the bartenders, to people in people's mixed drinks.  Noted!!  I will certainly be taking that into consideration.

Are you having drink stirrers at your reception?  Did you go the DIY route?  Post a link a tutorial you used because I know that there are a ton of super amazing ones out there!

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