I am currently living in Airbnbs while travelling, which means I am working with limited craft supplies. One material I have discovered along the way is the humble coffee filter. Coffee filters are cheap and incredibly versatile when it comes to crafting.
Over the past week, I learned to make various paper flowers from coffee filters. I named this one the Coffee Filter Wallflower because it just looks so great hung on a wall, especially if you make a bunch of them and put them together to make a statement photo wall for an event.
Coffee filters can be easily coloured by soaking them in food colouring, which also adds texture as the filters dry with a slightly crinkled finish.
Materials
- Approximately 20 coffee filters
- Scissors
- A satin pin
- Coloured or patterned paper for the centre
Instructions
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Start with one coffee filter. Fold it in half, then in half again, and once more to create eighths.
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While the filter is folded, cut a rounded edge along the open side to create petal shapes. Unfold the filter to reveal a circular flower layer.
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Repeat this process with approximately 20 filters. With each successive filter, progressively cut away a little more material so that the layers decrease in size. This creates a natural layering effect where the outer petals are larger and the inner petals are smaller.
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Stack all of the cut filters on top of one another, with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on top.
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Push a satin pin through the centre of all the layers to secure them together.
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Create a small centre piece from coloured or patterned paper and attach it over the pin in the middle of the flower to finish it off.
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Gently separate and fluff the layers to give the flower volume and dimension.