Up-cycled Straw Earrings

The story behind these earrings began when I was working at Chick-fil-A a few years back.

I began to notice how much plastic just got thrown away. Mind you, I love to take old things and give them new life so I started thinking of things I could make with the plastic that was being thrown out.

I brought home some drinking straws and started cutting them up to see what I could make. I wanted to make something I could wear and decided on earrings since they are the only kind of jewelry I use.

After messing with the straws for a bit I finally found that you could make identical spirals from just one piece of straw. After perfecting my technique I added some earrings hooks and voila!

I've gotten quite a few complements on them and people are really surprised to learn they are made out of drinking straws!

You will need:

• drinking straw
• scissors
• 2 earrings hooks
• jewelry pliers

To start, cut a piece of straw that is about 2 1/2 inches long.

Place your scissors inside the bottom of your piece and begin to cut up at and angle making sure to only cut through one layer of the straw at a time.

Continue cutting your spiral until you have cut all the way through your piece.

Now, go back to the bottom of your straw and flatten it out a bit.

Find the middle of your spiral and begin cutting again following your spiral and staying in the middle of your piece.

Once you have cut all the way up again you should now have two identical spirals.

At the top each spiral poke a little hole with something sharp like a needle.

Take your earring hooks and put them through the holes and close them.

Now try out your new earrings and when people ask about them, remind them to recycle!

Thanks for reading!