A Paper Bouquet

2/15/2013

This year I got creative for Valentine's Day and decided to jump on the coffee filter flowers bandwagon...

Mr J is an artisanal coffee roaster, and what could be more fitting for him than a beautiful bouquet of handmade flowers created from something so relevant to his very existence?

It's so easy to make these... you just need lots of time and patience as dying the coffee filters is a bit messy, but the end result is really worth the effort! I won't bore you with the exact details of creation--suffice it to say that you can use your imagination and use whatever colors your heart desires... if you're a tutorial kind of person, Aunt Peaches makes some fantastical creations and has a great step-by-step tutorial. I didn't make my flowers exactly the way she does, but they'll turn out well regardless of your exact method--these are pretty fail-proof.

You'll need to dye 6 coffee filters as 'petals' for each flower, and one green filter for 'foliage' .

Cutting and assembly is entirely up to you--I did a spiky, darker filter as the center and layered the 'petal' colors for variation.

I finished the flowers off with a green filter that I cut to resemble 3 leaves, and pushed a floral wire through the filters, wrapping them all up with floral tape at the base.

I ended up taking the scraps from the green 'leaf' coffee filters and cutting out some extra large leaf shapes, grouping them in threes, and wrapping them with floral tape to another piece of wire to add extra 'foliage' filler to the bouquet.

Using superior kindergarden crafts skills, I twisted the floral wire 'stems' together and inserted them into an empty paper towel roll for stability, then wrapped it up into a 'bouquet' using red floral wrap. When it was wrapped and secured with a bit of red grosgrain ribbon you couldn't even see the paper towel roll lurking beneath the floral wrap, and it turned out to look quite realistic.

My husband was surprised and delighted with his coffee filter bouquet, and I suspect I'll be making more for the opening of his new coffee roasting warehouse & shop.

Yay for gradeschool crafts!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

7 Comments

Kathie link

2/15/2013 05:11:32 am

I'd like to invite you to link up to Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy Little Lady!

http://www.sassylittlelady.com/blog/show-and-tell-saturday/show-and-tell-saturday-4-plus-a-giveaway

Kathie

Leisa1 link

2/15/2013 05:31:27 am

Thank you, Kathie! I'm all linked up :-)

Anne link

2/16/2013 06:48:36 am

Wow clever! Love all those pretty shades of pink.

ginger link

2/17/2013 09:22:30 am

Gorgeous! This is amazing! Just hopping along from the Cuddlebug Cuties Sunday Linky Party!

Fruitful Fusion link

2/18/2013 03:31:42 pm

This looks lovely! I want to try making a paper bouquet! And the best thing is the flowers don't die!

Jody link

2/20/2013 08:02:18 am

Thanks so much for sharing this creative post at Simple & Sweet Fridays. The paper bouquet is beautiful!

Jody

Jann Olson link

2/26/2013 12:55:26 pm

I love making things with coffee filters. I have made a few wreaths. Last year I dyed some turquoise and made a Spring wreath. It is still one of my favorites. Loved how your flowers turned out. Thanks for sharing with Share Your Cup.
hugs,
Jann