How to starch crocheted items in 10 minutes or less!

I used to be pretty intimidated by starching. I guess I just felt lazy about it. Like it was too hard.
PFFFT!!!
It's SO easy!!
Ok, so it takes overnight for the items to dry, but it only takes 10 minutes or less of your actual hands-on time. Which, for a busy mom, is extremely important!

Here's my way to starch, and IT WORKS!!!
 You will need,
 -a piece of cardboard big enough to go under your project completely. Empty diaper boxes work great. You want to make sure it is thick enough to handle getting a bit wet, and so the pins will stay in it.
-metal straight pins
-heavy duty spray starch. This is what I used, because it doesn't flake off or leave white marks on dark colors.

I start by laying my project(s) flat on the board.
If I am making multiple small items, I try to do them all at the same time.

I then pin. I start in the center and work my way out. Whether it is a circle or a straight line, it is the same. Always inside- out.
For these bookmarks, I placed pins all the way up the center spine of them first.

I tend to pull things tight, because they do scrunch back in a little anyway, and I want to make sure I get things nice, flat, and neat.

Once I have the center secure, I pin the outside edge.
If you have lots of little points you want to stick out and have good definition, place a pin in each one of those points.

I go through an entire stitch when pulling/placing pins- Not just one loop of a stitch.

Once all pins are placed, you can start the real fun. Starching! and I'm not being sarcastic. 

Spray heavily, saturating the project.

 If you are using a brand that smells strongly, you may want to open a window. The brand I used isn't extremely strong and has a pleasant scent anyway. 

And that's it. You're done. Yep, done! 

Just let that sit overnight, perhaps a little longer if you got a bit more carried away in the fun of spraying!

These are a light weight yarn. I only needed to starch one side.

If you are using a worsted yarn (4), you may find it necessary to repeat this process on the opposite side. 

I would not recommend this process for items that will be worn.

I also do not recommend washing items that have been through this process. It will remove most of, if not all of, the starch. To be honest, I wouldn't mind terribly if I HAD to wash something like this, because it is SO easy to redo!