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Simple straw stars

  • Writer: Julia
    Julia
  • Oct 30
  • 2 min read
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These stars are a classic in rural Austria - people used to decorate their homes with what was readily available to them and straw was one of those things. You can buy straw online (it's usually sold as drinking straws) or if you live in the countryside a kind farmer may let you take some from their straw bails.


There are many straw designs that can be quite complicated to construct and most people now use a plastic template to arrange the individual straws before binding them, as it takes away a lot of the 'fiddliness' of this craft. The method I explain below is a very simple one that children aged 7 and over can do, but it helps to use a pin and cork-board to keep the straws from sliding around.


This video from my Instagram may also help you: How to make a straw star

Supplies


  • Straw 8 pieces of 10cm length for one star

  • String (Perle yarn or twine)

  • Scissors

  • A pin

  • A cork board (I used the lid of a water jug, but you can use anything that will hold a pin, e.g. a firm cushion)

About the straw


You can use straw gathered on a walk in a field, or you can also buy it online - search for ‘wheat straws’.​ To avoid having to soak the straws to be able to flatten them, the straws will have to be split lengthways before creating the star - that way they will lie nice and flat. Insert a needle into the middle of the straw, all the way through and slide it down - it's very satisfying!


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1


Make a cross with two stars and pin it down.







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2


Make another cross and pin it on top of the first one to create a star.






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3


Pull a piece of string underneath the straw that is at the very bottom, closest to the cork.





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4


Pull the string towards the centre of the star, then weave it over and under each of the points, tie a knot and cut off the ends.



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5


Make another star just the same and pin the two on top of each other at a slight angle, so that all the points of the star are evenly spaced out.





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6


Pull a longer piece of string under one of the bottom points and weave, like before.



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7


Pull the string into the middle of the star all around and tie a knot. Then tie the two pieces of string together to give the star something to hang on, and cut off the end.



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8


Finally, snip the end of each of the points at an angle to make them look pointy.

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