Skip to main content

Dyed Coffee Filter Flowers for Fall Wreath

Boy, its nearly Oct 31rst and another Halloween is dead set to arrive! Where does the year go!!

This year I suffered through some illness and so my Halloween is weak this year, but we did decorate the patio - I may be down at times, but I'm not out, lol!!!

However, before Fall came along I had done an interesting project with COFFEE FILTERS.  And the results were SPECTACULAR -- I dyed plain ol' generic coffee filters and turned them into flowers and I swear to you that when they are adorning a wreath, or gathered into a 'floral' arrangement, they look so real!

CLOSE-UP DYED COFFEE FILTER "FLOWERS"

{note the dyed coffee filter "flower" beside the rust sunflower - pretty good, eh?}
MORE PICTURES BELOW and SUPPLY LIST
Click on pictures for enlarged view. 

I am not showing the process of the flower creation - for that you can Google or Youtube " DIY Coffee Filter Flowers" and you will see plenty of tutorials on this subject, pick and choose your favs.
Here is one type flower 'version' tutorial: Tutorial Haleighanna's Hands DIY Coffee Filter Tutorial
Here is two type flower 'version' tutorial: Elegant Coffee Filter Rose

But I will give a few musings about how I DYED the coffee filters after cutting them into 'petals'.
I used food colouring to dye them. I found that food colouring gave beautiful vibrant shades of colour. Neon brights and Regular packs worked great.

I had tried using INK refills from my own collection, but only a few colours transferred well whereas some colours namely the green inks seem to turn out dull. The purple ink "Elegant Eggplant"  and the yellow " Daffodil Delight" from Stampin' Up! worked beautifully. So part of the charm of this project IS the dyeing process and discovering through experimenting which colours you create. Just like being a kid :)

While I used several colours: I did not use much liquid to dye the flowers. If you water down the food colouring {or ink} too much, the intensity will not develop, plus you can always rinse some of the colour 'out' if you want. I put a good many drops of one colour each into separate shallow vessels like clean margarine containers or short narrow juice glasses and added a wee bit of water. Next I dipped my crumpled or folded coffee filter in and afterwards squeezed out the excess liquid back into the container. {and this is probably where I should of wore gloves, duh!}

Some filters I 'dipped' one end into one colour, flipped and dipped the other end into a different colour....or I dyed the filter a light shade, then dipped the one half into a deeper shade.....either way you do it, you can combine colours for some really super results.

Drying was easy - as you can see :)

Here are my pictures......hope you give this project a try!

DYED COFFEE FILTERS DRYING

ASSEMBLED FLOWER #1

ASSEMBLED FLOWER #2

BEGINNING MY WREATH DESIGN
Sun Flowers and Burlap Ribbon new from Michaels*

FINISHED FALL WREATH


SUPPLIES
coffee filters (8 per flower)
scissors
glue 
(liquid, paste or hot glue gun)
food colours - variety of shades
(or ink refills)
 wire
(lite gauge, or bamboo skewers for 'stems')
containers 
(for dyeing)
drying spot
(use portable clothes dryer rack, or string up a line - you can dry the flowers faster
if you use a hair dryer on them but they dry pretty fast on their own)
and water!
** Wreath form or other decorative piece
plastic gloves
protective surface to work on.

TECHNIQUE TO CREATE FLOWERS: GOOGLE or YOUTUBE " DIY Coffee Filter Flowers and you will find loads of 'how-to' examples - pick your favourite and have fun!




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Gothic Birthday Card

 Have a friend who appreciates the gothic sensibilities? Then dig into your creative spirit and look at the norm through a wonderful, rich and dark prism!  I chose a designer paper with a fab colour set. Next why do butterflies when a moth will be better?  Here Tim Holtz’s Funky Insects die set does the trick. To make it a tad interesting I placed a pocket inside and crafted a ATC which doubled as a coffee gift card holder. A second large tag holds my message. Well crafters, explore your options and enjoy!

Funky Insects Tim Holtz - first projects

  Funky Insects Thinlits Dies (not including bee die shown upper left ) Tim Holtz's Funky Insects are a hoot to play with. I am just playing to discover the million-gazillion ways to colour each bug and not concerned with how to design projects featuring them yet. Here's a tall slimline card, an A2 card and an ATC that l've created so far. To get inspired, you only have to look at the amazing designers that contribute to Tim's Chapter releases such as this year's Chapter 2 release.  To be honest, l was not bothered cutting so many parts for the different insects as l thought l might be....time flew by as l cut batches of the body 'base' and then spent most of my time inking, embossing, painting, etc the wings and body sections. There lies the fun!

Easter "Scallop Circle" Chick Card

Isn't this the cutest!  The second I laid eyes on the card which inspired me - I was OMG !  So I had to do one! IT'S A  EASY - QUICK 5 MIN. PROJECT!  GREAT KIDS PROJECT!  We made ours  after having breakfast  and  in no time flat! Technique: You can see from the pictures that you must fold your cardstock at the 5-1/2 mark, and CUT the Scallop Circle LEAVING A SMALL PART OF THE FOLD OVERHANGING THE CIRCLE OUTLINE - that is how you make a card - and not 2 Scallop Circles. A small scallop punch is cut into wedges - those make up the wings. Punch your other parts, fold the square on the diagonal for its beak, then glue everything on. We highlighted the eyes and beak - voila! Basic Supplies:  CARDSTOCK: 11x8 in. yellow, 1 in square orange scrap, black scrap; BIG SHOT XL BIGZ DIE: Scallop Circle; HAND PUNCHES:  flower, scallop circle (any size), small circle punch; Other:  1" square orange cardstock, white gel pen, glue.