My Coffee Filter Experience... What all I've learned

I'm not an expert yet, but I've done the "dying coffee filters" thing a few times now and have learned many things through trial and error that I thought I would share....  I wish I would have known some of this my first time trying it.

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{ Why are coffee filters so awesome for crafting projects? } 

Because they are made with crepe paper.  The advantage of the coffee filters is they are easy to find and already cut in circles!

{ The basic how to }

1) Soak your filters in warm water mixed with food coloring.  Soak time depends somewhat on how deep you want the color to be.  Even when I'm just going for basic pastels I soak mine for at least 10 minutes.

2) Using gloves so you don't dye your fingernails and skin, Ring out the filters (get tough with them - they can take it!) and lay out to dry or you can even toss them in your clothes drier for a quick spin.  

{ The 411 on coloring }

1) When the filters dry they will be WAY lighter than what you expect.  I let my filters soak in the super dark green water above for 20 minutes (I swooshed them around good and fully submerged them and even warmed up the water in the microwave to get it really hot) and when they dried they looked like the light green in the pic below..

2) In addition to food coloring you can also dye them with kool-aid and if you want the old distressed look use tea.

3) Getting Darker Tones - If my filter dries lighter than I want then once it's completely dry I will resoak it again in really hot water.  I've never tried to get really deep colors but from my experience I know it would be hard to do with just water and dye.  But Erin at Salvaged Whimsy says she has used diluted craft paint to get really dark colors - that is a great idea!

4) For the whole two-toned look.... if you have a filter already dyed and then you just stick the very edge or tip in another color it WILL NOT just dye the tip - the filter will soak the dye up into it and will pull it way up into the filter.

{ What if you just want plain white? }

You still need to give them a quick bath.  When they dry after getting wet that's what gives them the crunchiness that makes it easy for you to shape them to make flowers, pom balls, etc.

Add a touch of color to your white filter flowers, balls, etc. by just dabbing a marker or ink pad here and there.

{ The easiest quickest flower to make is a peony / carnation. }

1) Gather up two filters together from the center at once.

2) Gather up two more filters at the same time around the two you already did.

3) Tighten up a twist tie or pipe filter around the bottom.

I have done many things with my colored filters including: putting the flowers in bottles, vases and wreaths and also making pom balls and topiary center pieces.  

There are 4 different ways I make the big puffy balls out of them and I will get step-by-step instructions for the balls posted on Saturday.

Also, below is the new special offer at my online accessory boutique: www.InspiredByFelicity.com

I'm linking this post up at some great blogs. Click Here to see who they & go check them out.