Coffee Filter Wreath

As promised, I am posting pics of my wreath. Sorry didn't take any pictures of the process of making it. :/

Overall, this project was very easy (time consuming) and very inexpensive. I only used about 50 coffee white coffee filters, about a yard of 1 1/2" black satin ribbon, some food coloring, a dash of salt and a piece of cardboard from the recycle bin. Total cost of this project $1.50- and I have enough coffee filters left for another wreath. :)

I found that dying the coffee filters worked best by boiling 3 quarts of water with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt in the water, after the water is boiling add the food coloring. Keep in mind the water has to be much darker than what you would expect. My water actually looked black and the filters as I took them out looked almost indigo, but then when they came out of the oven were the lavender color. I just love the way it turned out! So pretty! :)

Alright, now how to make your own wreath...

Supplies:

White coffee filters (natural/brown ones didn't hold the dye right)

Cardboard cut into the wreath shape you want (e.g. round, square, rectangle, etc.)

1 yard of 1 1/2" satin ribbon (or any type you have on hand)

Hot glue gun

Salt

Stew pot

Food coloring

Stove/Oven

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 225 degrees F.

Step 2: Boil 3 quarts of water with 1-2 teaspoons of salt.

Step 3: Add food coloring to desired color. (You might want to test out a filter- you can dye it darker, if you don't like your result. For the lavender color I ended up with, I used a concoction of 25 drops of pink, 30 drops of blue, 35 drops of purple and 20 drops of red.- No wonder the water was black!) ;)

Step 4: Submerge 6-8 coffee filters at at time in your stew pot. Let them soak for about a minute. Keep the pot on low heat to keep the water hot.

Step 5: Carefully remove the coffee filters from the water, and lay them flat on your oven rack.

Step 6: Bake your filters for 2 minutes. Remove from oven. (Your filters should be dry- if not, keep them in for another 30 seconds until they are completely dry.)

Step 7: Repeat Steps 4-5 until you have all of your filters dyed and dried.

Step 8: Take a filter and scrunch it to make your "flower." There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do this, it is a piece of art, and really you can't mess it up. :)

Step 9: Repeat Step 8 until you use all of your filters. (This is the time consuming part.)

Step 10: Take your ribbon and find the center of the top of your wreath, and glue in place. (This will become your hanger and bow later.)

Step 11: Take your cardboard wreath shape and start hot gluing your filter flowers to cover it entirely. (The amount of filters used will vary depending on size.)

Step 12: Tie the ribbon from Step 10 in a knot, then a bow on top of it for decoration. (or just have a ribbon hanger without the bow- whatever you like.)

That's it! :)