Paper straw challenge!

I was looking through my stash yesterday (one of these days I'm actually going to organise it all, but for now everything resides in three huge canvas drawers) and came across some blue and white paper straws. I received them when I was gathering supplies for my wedding stationery and bought from a little shop on Etsy. Alas, I can't remember what it was called but the owner was lovely, handled my queries efficiently and sent samples of the rest of her stock in the post, which included these lovely straws. I had visions at the time of red and white straws in mason jars, but really this was just the result of too much Pinterest. I never did use them in the end. So, what to do with them? I thought they made great candles for a birthday card, which is what I did here, tying them together with some hot pink baker's twine and mounting them onto a monochrome background panel. It only used up one straw. So many possibilities for the rest! I think using them on a scrapbook layout could be a good option, as a raised border maybe, or a flagpole with a bunting flag stuck to the top? Or I could take advantage of the colour and trim down the length of the straws, adhering them next to each other to give an interesting water effect on a seaside-themed layout or card. It will be interesting trying to use these up!