Project 204:COFFEE FILTER ROSES

Now isn't this pretty cool?  For years I had a box of coffee filters that doesn't fit in my peculator. Seeing pretty nice coffee filter flowers on the net, I decided to give them a try.  Gee, was I excited about the outcome!  My youngest even offered me a job at school to do arts class!  Now that does not happen often!  They always say that we have the house with the most handmade things in it!  Now I wonder if aliens are making the stuff in other peoples houses?....some things similar to stuff in our house, only difference....they bought it!

I have a thing about fake flowers and was surprised that I actually attempted this!  And that I am planning to use them somewhere in the house for a while!  And I can even see myself making them again and again!

Start cutting 4 leaves(2 per side.....start at the bottom going wider to the top) starting small and going larger until they are almost the same size than the  filter.  You should do about 8 filters.  Now use pieces of ribbon, material, newspaper, pages from old books, feathers, lace......whatever you feel like making leaves from and cut extra leaves using your already cut leaves as templates.

Use a piece of florist wire and apply a few stamens with florist tape to it.  You can buy stamens at a place that sells cake decorating stuff.  I used three and folded it in half to have six.

Now use a sosatie-skewer(wooden kebab skewer) to curl your leaves to the outside.  Start from one side to the centre and then from the other side to the centre.  They don't have to look the same as not all the leaves of a real rose are open at the same time as well.

Start applying the leaves to your wire starting with the smallest ones .  Allow each leave to overlap the one you have just finished.  You will be so surprised to see the rose form in your hands.  I used leaves I still had from another project to cover the base, but I am sure you can make paper ones as well.  I would have made stems with leaves, but these ones had another turn to it.

After doing the fake coloured glass bottles in the previous two projects, I have new admiration for my food colourings!  So I painted the flowers with food colouring as I thought the paper ill absorb the liquid well.  I used  Fruit juice bottles to allow them to dry properly.  Now this is just here that the turn came in....my husband passed and said...."Now that's pretty....you should just add coloured water to the bottles".....he thought they were supposed to stay in the bottles!

It gave me an idea.....I coloured the bottles like in the previous two projects....each one the colour of the rose....!