Coffee Filter Crafts: Making Stunning Paper Flowers
If you need a lot of paper flowers, are looking for a craft for a group with all skill levels or just want something fun to do with the kids one day, why not make coffee filter flowers! They are an inexpensive craft that’s fun for all ages.
You can keep it simple and make them the color of the filters (white or natural) or have fun coloring them with food coloring, fabric dye, markers, crayons, paint and more.
In this blog post I’ll show you how to make the flowers with step-by-step instructions complete with photos. I also have a video tutorial that shows the process as well as how to color the filters with food coloring.
The 4 things you need to make coffee filter flowers
To make the flowers you will need 4 things:
- coffee filters
- twine, string or ribbon
- hole punch
- scissors
Some people staple the flowers together but I find them harder to fluff open so I highly recommend the tied filter method I’ll show you now!
HOW TO MAKE COFFEE FILTER FLOWERS
STEP 1: Use 4 coffee filters – plain or colored as desired. (fig. 1)
STEP 2: Layer the 4 filters. (fig. 2)
STEP 3: Fold in half. (fig. 3) Skip to step 9 for the fastest way to make the paper flowers.
STEP 4: Fold in half again. (fig. 4)
(figure 1)
(figure 2)
(figure 3)
(figure 4)
STEP 5: Fold in half one more time. (fig. 5)
STEP 6: Cut a shape for the petals. (fig. 6) Some people fold yet again but I find that too thick to cut well and it hurts my hand. So instead, I cut a double curve from the outside edge of the filters. You can cut one curve for a big petal, cut points, etc. Play with different shapes to see what you like.
STEP 7: My favorite petals are curved and look like a heart when I cut them. (fig. 7)
STEP 8: Unfold the filters until you have a half-circle again.. (fig. 8)
(figure 5)
(figure 6)
(figure 7)
(figure 8)
STEP 9: Punch a hole in the center, about 1/2″ from the folded edge. (fig. 9)
STEP 10: Tie a piece of twine, string, ribbon etc to hold the coffee filters together. I leave a few inches in case I want to tie or tape the flowers to whatever project I’m making them for. (fig. 10)
STEP 11: Open the coffee filters with the string on the bottom. Starting from the top filter, which will be the center of the flower, pinch the filter to create a shape you like. Continue with each filter. (fig. 11)
STEP 12: The bottom filter won’t be pinched much. In just a few minutes you will have a beautiful bloom! (fig. 12)
(figure 9)
(figure 10)
(figure 11)
(figure 12)
Different variations you can make
In the step-by-step example I used whilte filters I colored with yellow food coloring. If you paid close attention, you might have noticed a 5th orange filter was snuck in for the center in figure 11. 😉 It added a little extra color and made the flower just a little fuller.
Play with the number of filters, colors and ways to trim them to decide what you like best. At about $0.03 / flower it’s not an expensive experiment and a lot of fun!
Below are some examples of white and colored coffee filter flowers from filter shape to flower. The two flowers in the center skipped steps 4 – 8 and the flowers on the right had the petals trimmed as shown in the step-by-step instructions.
LOVE THIS IDEA?
Leave a comment and let me know which way you like the coffee filters best. Have you made them before? What will you use them for?
