Good morning! I'm aware that today's not Monday, but bear with me while I ramp back up to full speed over here. (There were a lot of dirty floors and dusty crevices to clean over here. We're almost back to clean). Anyway, I've been having an inordinate amount of fun making the easiest DIY banner ever. Isn't it pretty?

It's a little embarrassing, but here's your supply list:

Let's back up for a second. I had wanted a gold triangle banner ever since I spotted this one on Urban Outfitters a while back.

Since I'm not really happy unless my house looks like a knockoff of a UO catalog, this is not super surprising. This little banner isn't terribly expensive - only about $18 normally and $12 at the moment on sale. But, though I've frequently added it to my online shopping cart, I've never pulled the trigger. (My neglected shopping carts are strewn all over the internet. It's entertainment for me). Anyway, at some point, I saw a banner made from straws on - where else - Pinterest. Some point after that, I started redecorating our bedroom, and began pondering the idea of making my own banner to go over our bed. That led me to consider the best way to spray paint straws gold. I was imagining all sorts of contraptions -- almost like a Boone drying rack -- to actually be able to get good coverage of the spray paint onto each straw. And then, fortuitously, West fell asleep in the laundromat yesterday, and rather than go home for 30 minutes and disrupt him, I did what one does and popped into Paper Source. There, I asked if maybe they had a gold banner kit? Maybe looking almost like drinking straws? The clerk looked at me with total blankness, and then suggested, "Well, we have gold drinking straws."

GAME CHANGER.

This box of straws cost $10. I had thread and a large needle at home. And that's all you need to embark on hours of fun. I started out with the banner.

Start off by making the number of triangles you'd like in your banner. I kept things simple and used untrimmed straws of equal lengths, but you can of course make triangles of any size and type. I found the easiest way to make the triangles was to thread a needle and then drop the needle through each straw, being sure to keep hold of one end of the thread so it doesn't slip into the straw. Once you've threaded three straws, knot your ends and, if you're going to hang your triangles by an edge, trim the excess thread.

Once you've got the number of triangles you're going for, re-thread your needle and run it through the tops of each triangle. If, instead, you'd like your banner to hang by vertices, leave your threads un-trimmed from when you make your triangles, and tie each triangle to the ribbon or thread of your choice.

The banner was so easy, and so much fun, that I decided to see what else I could come up with. This little pyramid was easy to whip up. I made two more triangles, and then threaded the bottoms together with two addition gold straws.

I secured the tops of my pyramd with a dollop of clear hot glue.

You can see the white insides of the straws here; I don't care. But if I did, I might swab the edges of the inside with black or gold acrylic paint. I'm thinking of making a couple of these to group on bookshelves; I'm also liking the idea of a hanging 3D shape...maybe a diamond? I still have awhole box of gold straws, so I'm feeling like the world is my oyster! And, if gold is not your bag, there are so many straws out there! I'm thinking of getting these wood-toned ones for more DIY fun.

Have you ever made anything out of straws? Other than towers that hold to hold more than 3 pounds? (Did anyone else have to build stuff like that in school? Have any idea what I'm talking about? No? Okay, cool). Thanks for reading and I'll see you tomorrow!