Pretty In Pink Flower Wreath Made From Dyed Coffee Filters

So I was decorating my house for Valentine's Day (I pretty much decorate for any holiday; gives me an excuse to create more stuff), when I decided I needed to make yet another decoration. Why? Because I can! I had seen some tutorials on dyeing coffee filters decided to try my hand at it. I bought the cheapest coffee filters I could find for this project and they worked great! You are also going need craft paint and a small bucket or container in which to dye your coffee filters and an old towel or blanket to lay them on to dry.

I wanted red flowers, so I used red paint. Really. 

I poured paint into the bucket with some water (about 2 parts water to 1 part paint) and mixed until all the paint was dissolved. Which takes longer than you would think. 

It looks red, right? So one would think the coffee filters would come out red. But they didn't. What came out was decidedly pink. PINK. Pale, girly pink. I wanted red. Pink does NOT match my red Valentine's decorations. AT ALL.

I decided to suck it up and go ahead with it anyway. I soaked the filters in the "looks red, but is really pink" dye for about 30 seconds, gently squeezed them out and the laid them out to dry on an old towel. I used about a third of the package of coffee filters and I dried them in stacks, due to the fact that there was more coffee filters than counter space. I let them dry overnight. Some came out dark pink, some light and some were mottled. I liked it.

When they dried, they really were a pretty shade of pink. I thought of an adorable little girl who has a pink, butterfly-themed bedroom and decided to make the wreath for her. Because pink DOES NOT match my red Valentine's decorations. Yes, I am still rather peeved about that. I really like red. 

So now my coffee filters are dry and I'm ready to start my wreath. I grabbed a wire wreath form (I have a bunch in the craft stash, you could use another type of form) and my trusty glue gun. And glue sticks. And a drop cloth so I wouldn't get hot glue all over my carpet. That stuff is a *&*$%! to get out of carpet. Trust me on that.

I was going to do a rosebud wreath, but the rosebuds are small and I wanted a fuller, fluffier flower. I made a carnation-type flower, but I felt it lacked something, so I combined the two. I made the rosebuds by cutting filters into spirals. I just free handed them with the scissors, since this really isn't an exact science and I'm too lazy to draw perfect spirals. 

Then I started at the inside edge and rolled it up into a rosebud shape and pinched the bottom together.

For the carnation-type flowers, I took three filters, made a cone shape and pinched the bottom while I fluffed and fussed with the edges until it looked like a flower. My vision of a flower, anyway.

Then I broke out the glue gun and the band-aids and burn cream (I always burn myself and occasionally get a blister, but, luckily, not this time). I put a dab of glue in the center of the carnation and then put the rosebud in the center.

I like it! It's flowery and funky and pretty. Now I grabbed the wreath form and started gluing. I put two small dabs of glue on the form and wedged the bottom of my flower between the wires.

I just started gluing and wedging in no particular order, just wherever I felt it looked good.

After I glued all flowers in, I stood back and admired it and patted myself on the back, cuz I did an awesome job. However, it needed something. I thought it might look nice hanging from a sparkly, sheer pink ribbon that I had in my craft stash. I tied it to the wreath form and gave it a dab of glue to keep it secure.

It looks so pretty and girly and I really liked it! Even if it's not red. I think if I want this wreath in red, I will have to paint the coffee filters. With a brush. One by one. I'm not sure if I have the patience to paint that many. I'm going to have to think on that. I have, however, thought that this would look good in a pale yellow. That I will have to try. I can handle the dyeing method. That's a piece of cake. Which sounds awfully good right now. 

I think I'm going to make a cake.

Chris :)