How often do you go to the grocery store? With growing boys in the house, I feel like grocery shopping is part of my daily routine. Where does all of the food go anyway? Why do they never stop eating? Most importantly, why is it when they eat junk food, I gain the weight? There are some things that I may never have definitive answers to, but at least my laps up and down the food aisles have given me some DIY inspirations.
A few years ago I was in the grocery store and ruminating over how to make a lot of tissue paper flowers for decorating at a youth activity. The more realistic looking flowers are made of cut tissue paper but I didn’t feel like I had the time or energy for that. The other downfall of tissue paper is that it is delicate and won’t hold up to outdoor elements. I looked to my left and saw a package of coffee filters. Well, well, well…what have we here? These would totally fit the bill. I dyed them and used them for the activity.
Believe it or not, I don’t drink coffee. My coffee filter experience is limited to the above experience and volunteering as an art docent for my children’s elementary school. We did a project about combining primary colors to make secondary colors using dye on a coffee filter. From that experience, I knew that coffee filters are durable and comparable in scrunched fluffiness to that of tissue paper. I grabbed two packages of 700 coffee filters to play around with. The result? A coffee filter Halloween wreath.
Supply List
- 16″ Styrofoam Wreath Form
- Coffee filters (bleached or natural)
- Floral wire
- Wire cutters, or pliers
- Pin, needle, or safety pin
- Glue Gun
- Low Temp Glue Sticks for glue gun
- Cheese cloth
- Plastic skulls of varying sizes
- Floral accents
- Sparkle Gem Stickers
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Put on a good movie. This is a great time to catch up on a show or movie as you string coffee filters on to wire. When you grab a stack of coffee filters, be sure to separate each one prior to folding them into quarters. The first picture is a stack of about six filters folded together without separating them first. It does not pass the fluffy filter test, ha ha. The next picture is the same stack of filters, but separated and then folded and gathered in a bunch. Much fluffier. We want volume with these coffee filters because volume equals good coverage.
Instructions
Step 1:
Separate the filters and fold into quarters. I just do a handful at a time.
Step 2:
Poke a hole with a pin or needle about a quarter to a half inch in from the point of the folded coffee filters. This hole will make stringing the wire so much easier. Do this one filter at a time.
Step 3:
Cut a piece of floral wire about 9 inches in length with the pliers or wire cutters. String the filter onto the cut wire. String around 10-15 filters on to one wire.
Step 4:
Bunch the filters up and then wrap the wire around the Styrofoam wreath form. Twist the ends of the wire around each other, near the wreath form, to secure in place. Cut off any long ends. Secure with a dab of hot glue.
TIP: Hot glue is generally not preferred for wreaths because the extreme temperatures compromise the integrity of the glue. In this case, the glue is just holding something light in place instead of securing a heavy object so it seems to work out just fine.
Step 5:
Repeat this process until the entire wreath form is covered. This is where the movie comes in to play. Let’s just say, it takes more than a few minutes.
Step 6:
Once the wreath form is covered, add details like sparkle gem stickers, skulls of varying sizes, cheesecloth and floral accents. Also, use a bit of wire to make a hanger for the wreath.
Viola! The wreath is complete. This coffee filter wreath is pretty simple. It just takes a little while to string enough filters to cover the entire form. The end results are worth the effort.
Like I said before, this wreath idea was a few years old. The following pictures are of the same wreath about three Halloween seasons apart. The coffee filters held up well to both Texas humidity and blaring sun. That is a definite bonus of the investment in time. People love this wreath and it’s unique fullness and charm. Often the skulls are not the first things noticed. Isn’t that funny? People usually just comment on the elegance that it brings to the often tacky Halloween decorations. Have fun making a house a home and a ominous place to trick or treat!💙
Posts to Spiffy Up the Front Porch:
How To Paint a Paneled Front Door
Easiest Front Door Wreath EVER!
Right now would be the perfect time to get the details for this wreath at Michael’s or Joann’s. Do you think a young child could help with some steps of making this wreath? I would love to involve my daughter.
Absolutely! Of course, as with any project, keep sharp objects away from small children. She would probably love to fluff the coffee filters, add gem stickers and select any floral or decorative embellishments for the wreath. Have fun and be sure to share any pictures of your finished work!
We are planning to do this project this week. Do you know how to post pictures from a phone on here?
Great question. Let me talk to my site developer and I will give you instructions asap. I would love to see how your wreath turns out. I know you will have a helper with some strong opinions 😉
Ok, I forgot to tell you before but I figured it would be good to post the info here. So, no one is allowed to publish pictures in the comments, which I hear is pretty standard. I had no idea about that so I asked some super pro bloggers about it and they said it was because people will post inappropriate pictures or spam the post with ads. That did not occur to me before because, well, I’m not a creep and neither are you. Unfortunately the creeps out there in the wide world of the internet have ruined that for us. The good news? Go to Tinged Blue on Facebook and post away (unless someone reading this is a creep, you can stay away)! I look forward to seeing your projects soon. Thank you!