This Christmas, in honor of our Lithuanian heritage, my mom wanted to make Lithuanian star ornaments, which are made from wheat straws. She found a video that showed how to make a jig from a toilet paper tube, but my brother was able to 3D print a set that had a 6-notch, 8-notch, and 10-notch jig (plus a center disc). He then made a mold and cast 4 copies of them in resin. My mom ordered up 500 wheat straws, and we were ready to go!
The straws needed to be soaked in water to make them a little more pliable, so this photo shows the container for soaking, a package of straws, and the set of jigs.
We tried using sewing thread to wrap the straws but, as you can see, it wasn’t very successful!
This one was made with embroidery floss, and it worked much better! I used the 6-notch jig.
This photo shows the 3 that I made (w/red embroidery floss), plus my mom’s first attempt. The lower right one was made with the 8-notch jig, and the upper left one was made with the 10-notch jig. I need to figure out a better wrapping pattern for that one… it’s a little wobbly.
I was able to take a package of straws and a set of jigs home with me, so I’ll be trying this again!