Although they’ve been around for ages, I finally decided to try making paper flowers from coffee filters.
The project had two key aspects that I love when I’m doing crafts:
- it was easy
- it didn’t take long
In about an hour, I had a lovely flower to use as a package topper on a gift!
The supplies are basic. You’ll need:
coffee filters
a glue stick
florist wire or pipe cleaners
scissors
food coloring
plastic
vinyl or latex gloves
Start by spreading a piece of plastic (cut open a garbage bag if you don’t have anything else handy) and cover your surface. It will keep you from scrubbing away food coloring stains later!
Mix your food coloring with water until it is the color you desire. I ended up blending the red and yellow to get the peach color. I also combined the blue and red for a mauve flower.
Fold your coffee filter into quarters then dip in the food coloring. The color will travel upward, so if you don’t want the whole thing colored, only dip the tips. Unfold the filter and spread it out to dry.
Color eight filters for each flower.
If you wish, you can cut the edges of the filters to make varied petals. (NOTE – this step is much easier if you do it before you color the filters!)
Poke a hole into the center of a filter with the wire and glue it in place, then squish the center of the filter around it.
Continue adding filters, gluing and pinching the centers around the wire, pushing it up against the one before it. After the bottom filter is added, twist the wire around the stem and leave about a two-inch length, so you can attach to gift boxes (if desired).
Aren’t they fun?
What colors would you create?
