by Debbie Chapman
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These coffee filter hydrangeas are SO PRETTY and they’re super easy to make! Transform regular coffee filters into these beautiful flowers that look surprisingly realistic!
These DIY coffee filter flowers are inexpensive to make, and it’s such a fun craft for both kids and adults. It’s almost magical to watch the coffee filters change colour as the liquid watercolour paint spreads across them. Then watch the colours fade and change once again as they dry!
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How to Make Coffee Filter Hydrangeas
These coffee filter hydrangeas are so colourful and beautiful! Make realistic looking flowers from simple coffee filters.
Author: Debbie Chapman
Materials:
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Looking for more coffee filter crafts? Here's a few of our favourites:
Coffee Filter Flowers
How to Make Coffee Filter Dancers
Coffee Filter Poppies
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Cut the coffee filters
Make a stack of two coffee filters
Fold the coffee filters in half, and in half again. Then fold them in half two more times.
Draw the petal shapes on the top (open) part of the folded coffee filter. Your drawing should look like a butterfly shape with a tree trunk coming out from the bottom center.
Cut out the petal shapes.
Unfold the coffee filters once and snip in between the two petals to separate them. Unfold and cut until all the petals are separate.
Repeat step 2, cutting a total of 12 coffee filters.
Step 3: Colour the coffee filters
Place 4 coffee filters on top of each other on a baking sheet.
Add 10 drops of liquid watercolour paint to a small bowl with about 2 Tablespoons of water.
Repeat for any other colours you'd like to use. (We used blue and purple.)
Use an eyedropper to add blue to the center of the coffee filters.
Then add some purple around the outside petals of the coffee filters.
Drop blue paint around parts of the petals.
Fill in any white space remaining with purple.
Allow to dry overnight, or bake in a low temperature oven (see more details below).
Repeat, colouring and drying all 12 of your coffee filters.
Step 4: Add the first coffee filter onto a pipe cleaner stem
Bend down the end of a green pipe cleaner (about 1/4 inch), creating a closed "U" shape.
Push the single end of the pipe cleaner through the center of one of the coffee filters.
(Cut a tiny hole in the center of each coffee filter to make this easier, if you'd like.)
Pull the pipe cleaner through until the coffee filter reaches the other end. The "U" shape on the end of the pipe cleaner should keep it in place.
Add a few dots of hot glue around the pipe cleaner.
Scrunch up the bottom center of the coffee filter, pushing it so that it's forming a "V" shape. Hold the coffee filter until it stays glued in place.
Step 5: Continue adding the coffee filters to make a hydrangea
Push a second coffee filter up the pipe cleaner from the bottom.
Add a line of hot glue to the inside of the coffee filter you just added.
Scrunch the coffee filter up in the same way, again holding it in place.
Repeat, adding coffee filters in the same way. As you add more filters to the stem, they'll become more flat, instead of the "V" shape.
For the last few coffee filters, scrunch the coffee filters down in the opposite direction, making an upside-down "V". You can add hot glue to the bottom of the last coffee filter to make them easier to connect.
Once you've added the last coffee filter, fluff up the flower and separate the petals so they lay naturally.
Your coffee filter hydrangea is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Don’t worry about the coffee filters being totally flat as they dry. The curled petals make the flowers look even more realistic!
- Make these coffee filter hydrangeas on a baking sheet to help cut down on the mess.
Can I speed up the drying of the coffee filters?
Yes, if you’d like to reduce the drying time for the coffee filters there are a few options:
- Put the coffee filters in a 125F oven for 20 – 30 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and remove them as soon as they’re dry.
- Put them outside in the sun to dry. Again, keep a close eye on them, because they’ll blow away once they’re dry.
- Place the coffee filters over a mason jar or glass. This will reduce the drying time to about 1-1/2 hours.
Do I need to use all 12 coffee filters to make these coffee filter hydrangeas?
No, you can definitely use fewer coffee filters to make your hydrangea. We prefer the look of the flowers with 12 coffee filters – they look so nice and full and realistic! But the single flower in the picture above was made with 6 coffee filters and it still looks great!
What if I don’t have an eye dropper?
If you don’t have an eye dropper to add the liquid watercolour paint, no worries! Simply use a small teaspoon or 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon to drop on the paint a little bit at a time.
How else can I colour the coffee filters?
If you don’t have liquid watercolour paint there are a couple other ways you can dye your coffee filters. You can use food colouring and make the coffee filter hydrangeas in the exact same way.
Or you can colour the coffee filters with washable markers and then drop water on them to watch the colours spread. Allow the coffee filters to dry, and then fold and cut the hydrangea petal shapes like usual.
What can I use instead of a pipe cleaner for the coffee filter hydrangea stem?
If you don’t have a pipe cleaner, or you want your flower stem to look even more realistic, use a piece of wire wrapped in floral tape.
It’s so easy to make these DIY coffee filter hydrangeas, and they end up looking so beautiful! Make homemade decor that won’t wilt or fade, or give a hydrangea bouquet as a gift for teachers, grandparents, or Mother’s Day. They even look pretty as party decorations for an anniversary or wedding!
Here’s even more coffee filter craft ideas:
Coffee Filter Flowers
How to Make Coffee Filter Dancers
Coffee Filter Poppies
Our bookLow-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
More from One Little Project
About Debbie Chapman, the Author of this Post
I'm Debbie Chapman, founder of One Little Project and author of the book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids. I love creating fun and easy crafts and cooking up delicious recipes for my husband and 3 kids.
More by Debbie Chapman
Filed Under: Crafts for Adults, DIY, Holidays, Just for Kids, Kids Crafts and Activities, Other Holidays and OccasionsTagged With: Coffee Filters, diy flowers, flowers, liquid watercolour paint, mothers day, paper flowers, pipe cleaners, Weddings
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