We are going on four months of snow on the ground outside, so I’m thinking it’s high time we bust out a can of spring inside. Don’t you? Since we are still a good month away from daffodil season, why not make our own flowers? And, good news! I have a secret way of doing it that is ridiculously easy, costs less than $10, and will make you feel accomplished all weekend while you binge watch House of Cards. Don’t even act like you are not watching it. I saw you.
Yes, you.
For this project, I am partnering with Paas. This is especially appropriate because the first thing I ever dyed with my own two little hands was an Easter egg using Paas tablets and that little copper wire dipper dooby (<< real word) . Even back then, after the eggs were all dyed up and looking pretty, it occurred to me that there ought to be something else you could do with all that leftover dye. Thirty years later, I have the answer. I have it!
Coffee filter flowers are not new to me or this blog, but this is the first time I have made them using the flat kind of filters, which I understand, is the standard filter outside the US. So for all y’all who have been looking for a flat filter flower craft, here you go!
will take a good month to ship from Latvia).I didn’t explain this in the video because this can be as easy or as complicated as you want it, and it mostly depends on quantity. Coffee filter fibers do not hold liquid, so it’s easier than you think. Normally I just leave them in stacks of 5-10 then flop them over my shower rod to dry over night. If you are working with impatient munchkin types, that can be a little more difficult. Want them dry in a hurry? Two options: If your total quantity is under 10 or so, lay them on a dishtowel on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven at 225f for about 10 minutes. You may need to shuffle them around half way, depending on the size of your cookie sheet. If you are working with a larger quantity, let them set on towels for a few minutes to get the excess liquid, then throw them in a warm dryer for ten minutes. I would suggest keeping separate loads for warm colors and cool colors, but sometimes the colors bleeding on each other is pretty nifty, so yeah, that’s your call. It doesn’t take much effort to dry them off, it just depends on timing.
Look, the tulips match the eggs! Is that the most darling thing you have ever seen? And the Tulips will year round. The eggs…not so much.
Speaking of eggs, I’ll be partnering with Paas on a series of projects this spring, so be sure to stop by and keep tabs on the fun. If you make these tulips with your eggs, post a picture to their Facebook page so everyone can see your work. I’ll be looking!
Thank you to Paas for sponsoring this post, and thank YOU for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.
Happy Easter!
I would never use any dye but Paas. I would feel like I was cheating. These flowers are wonderful. Like how you’ve made the video so easy! Can you try this using the unbleached tan filters? Maybe for fall flowers?
Paas story. When little David was almost one and Betsy was 3, we dyed eggs for Easter. He thought it was the greatest thing ever. We had at least two dozen hardboiled eggs. He liked it so much that when we ran out of eggs to dye, he started crying! It took a while to get him to stop. Ann
Well, I can’t blame him for crying. The end of easter egg dyeing season is a VERY traumatic occasion!
I was wondering the same about the brown “natural” filters. I use them to make green leaves all the time and they take dye great — so I imagine they would be lovely. Guess we’ll have to find out 🙂
Thank you so much for using the kind of coffee filters we see here!!!!!!! So awesome to see you work your magic on this familiar product, and I can wait to get started with them!
I actually purchased some of the coffee filters you have normally used (those huge ruffly things) direct from the USA at huge expense (I think with postage I paid $30 for 100!), just so I could make your beautiful flowers, so I’m pretty stoked to see you make some from filters I already have in my cupboard!!
Is Australia the same, Alexandra? I knew they were difficult to get in Europe but this is news from ‘down under’. I have a far off dream of one day retiring to a flamingo cottage in Australia, so the no coffee filter thing could put a kink in it!
Leftover dye is also wonderful for many other projects, like wine corks: https://www.etsy.com/listing/54400287/ombre-green-double-cork-board?ref=shop_home_active_8
Around where I live, in the sunny Bay Area of California, one can get HUGE-O straws from places that sell boba tea, or tapioca pearl milk tea (you can get other flavors like rose tea). Because the standard boba pearl is like a large BB, the straws are made for sucking those squishy, delishy pearls, or even flavored jelly. They’re usually cut diagonally on the end so you can use the straw to poke through the vacuum sealed plastic tops of the tea, but I figure you can just snip those flat. So if you have super thick-o flowers or real little buddies, boba straws might be the way to go.
These look amazing to make, and out of coffee filters. I’m looking forward to trying to make them myself. This is my first visit to this site, but I’m sure I will be back many times
Thanks so much Paulette! If you do make them, please send a photo — I would love to see them!