Coffee Filter flowers for Valentine's Day

To celebrate the holiday, Sugarwings asked if we could throw a craft day party. I try to do these for other occasions too, some years we have one for every holiday, other years are hit and miss. It is always a good excuse to clean up the studio and hang out with good friends. so if I can make a party happen, I'm glad to do it.

And it is such fun to see Sugarwing's excitement and to watch her little wheels turn as she plans a soiree.  We made a couple of trips to craft stores, and she picked out all the supplies needed to make cards.

The menu was all her idea too. Of course, Conversation Hearts were a main treat.

Along with Ghirardelli chocolate dipped strawberries.

Sadly, about an hour before the party, I got a call from her, in tears because she was ill.  Our poor, fairy baby had a fever and had to cancel.  Luckily, her Nurse Mommy had a day off, and was there for her.  

Which meant she was in very good hands.  (Here comes a bragging moment, and a big one-)  Her mom, our Hippy Chick, is on the nominated list for "The Best of Lawrence" voting for Best Nurse in town!

And that is a big deal, isn't it?

After talking to Sugarwings, I talked to her daddy and discovered that Kia, my Faux Granddaughter, was ill too.  So, no family for the big party.  Dewdrop is in NC with her own mommy, and the rest of the bunch were taking care of sick kids. 

I was down for a bit, sad that my girl couldn't come to the party she had planned out, but I'm leaving it all set up and letting her throw another one for her family, and I had a lovely day with my good friends and their kids.  

Lots of cards to spread Valentine love were crafted, and we also made some coffee filter flowers.  

Here is a vaseful at a point when I thought they were done.

But, I decided that they needed something more, and figured out that a kid's marker dipped in water was great to give the petal edges some color.

Watercolor paints work well on the petals too.

I added some leaves pulled off my favorite old hats too.  

Much better!

They were so much fun to make, that I'm also having one more coffee filter craft day too.   Plus, I have dyed HUNDREDS of filters...

Twinkle really needs to learn to not be so curious when I'm dying things. She always ends up with a polka dot on her head.

It's been a few days and the color is barely fading.

I bought two packages each of small, medium, and large filters, and dipped them in fiber reactive dyes.  Once they were done, the amount seemed to quadruple.  

I'm going to need more friends to help me use these up....

Or I could just sit and make flower, after flower, after flower. (this is the same flower I showed painted and using a marker on. Big difference, huh?)

Because they are addictive and beautiful.  I seem to have the best luck with peonies, I wish my roses turned out better.  And I find it hard to work with the dang floral tape.

Why is it even called tape?  It has very little stickiness, which is basically tape's main ingredient.

But the flowers are really pretty easy to make, we all had some beauts.  The kids might have even out-flowered the adults.

The hardest part for me was adding the wire stem with the floral tape. I discovered that it was better to use artist tape to hold the flower onto the wire, then cover it in the green tape.

It still wasn't perfect. I'll need to do some research before friends come back to make more flowers with me.

If you want to make some, there are so many how-to videos and guides online, that it probably isn't worth my time to give you any directions.  This site has links to many different tutorials.  I tried a variety of styles, some easier than others.   I gave up on the Martha Stewart ones. They are unbearably beautiful, but not a quick process.  

The joy of the other directions was that they are so simple and look like you spent a lot of time on them, when you really didn't.  

I'll let you know if we figure out any good shortcuts or tips when we make more.  I'm glad to be having more parties!   

Comments

[jeanie]

What a great bouquet and how fun and festive to do this at Valentine's Day -- one of my favorite holidays!

[Laurie Jackson]

Your flowers all turned out beautiful -- and such great shades! I love your decorated dorkie, and those sparkly boots, too! Your parties are the best in the world!

[Karla Nathan]

Well, it is always great to have a studio full of friends, that it what makes it a good party. Hope to see you at one again someday!

[sadie]

oh my word, they are so stunning! White filter papers are really hard to get hold of in the UK, but I finally found somewhere selling them so I am going to get some and give these a try! What a beautiful idea.

Florists tape works by the heat in your hands, so to get it sticking at the start and at the end, just pinch it between your thumb and finger and let the heat from your hands do the work. it's not super sticky, but the warmth does make a difference. You probably already worked it out, but as you twirl the tape round, stretch it a little, it helps the stickiness/heat thing.
:O) x

[Karla Nathan]

Thank you, Sadie, I really shouldve asked for tips before I butchered those stems instead of after!