In a home with kids, plastic drinking straws are bound to show up at some point in time. Sometimes they show up in scads!
If you’re really feeling frugal and want to cut down on waste, you can clean and reuse straws. Use a pipe cleaner with a drop or two of soap and give them a good rinse. They will be clean enough to reuse at least a few times.
For those of you looking for some more creative ways to reuse straws, here are a few great ideas!
Hull Strawberries
Did you know that you can reuse straws as kitchen gadgets? Remove the leaves and stems from strawberries quickly and easily by shoving a straw into the bottom of the strawberry and out the top. This should pop the leaves and stem right off. You can also use the same method to remove the pits from cherries.
Make To-Go Packets
Single serve packets of all sorts of things are super handy! However, they’re also super expensive! Skip the added expense and reuse straws to make your own single serve packets. Fold and tape one end of the straw shut, fill the straw with your product of choice, and fold and tape the other end shut. You make single serve packets with drink mixes, condiments, beauty products, spices, or just about anything else.
Keep Necklaces Tangle-Free
Tangled necklace chains are a frustrating mess! Reuse straws to keep your necklaces tangle-free. Just run the necklace chain through a length of straw and clasp the ends together. The straw will protect the chain and prevent it from tangling.
Arrange Flowers
Soft flower stems don’t always stay upright when you’re arranging them. To prevent them from drooping or breaking, place the stem in a straw and arrange it in the vase as you normally would. You can also use this trick to arrange flowers with broken stems or stems that are too short.
Curl Hair
This is one of my favorite ways to reuse straws! Spray small sections of hair with water and wrap them around a drinking straw. Use bobby pins to secure hair to each of of the drinking straw and leave them in for a few hours or sleep in them. When you remove the straws, you’ll have gorgeous corkscrew curls. Check out this YouTube video for a nice tutorial.
