Valentine Wreath....

I wanted to make a wreath for our mantel for Valentine's Day, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money or time or brain power working on something. I am really happy with how this wreath turned out and it didn't have to be 'perfect'.

Here's what you need:

Coffee Filters (They come in a huge package, this was actually left over from another project I did)

Fabric Dye (I used Tuplip Red and found it at Walmart)

Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Scissors

Wreath form, whatever size and shape you would like

FIRST: you need to dye your coffee filters. This isn't hard and it doesn't have to be perfect. I used a large plastic tub in my sink. I DID NOT use all the dye. Just a bit, until it was the color I was looking for. I put about a tablespoon of salt in the tub, then the powdered dye, and added about 2 cups of boiling water. I stirred until it was all dissolved.

You MUST WEAR GLOVES! I wore throw-away medical gloves, but it doesn't really matter what you wear, just wear gloves. I dripped some on the back of my hand and could not get it off, it is slowly fading, but still there.

Add the coffee filters to the tub of dye. Make sure that they are fully covered, move them around and let them sit for as long as you like. The longer they sit in the dye the darker they will be. I did 3 batches of coffee filters, the first I let sit the longest time, and then less time and less to get a multi-shade look. 

(Sorry there are no pictures of this, but I was home alone and I didn't want to dye my hands or my camera)

Over the tub ring out the coffee filters, they are amazingly strong and I just rung out all the excess moisture. And then place them in another dry tub or bucket (remember nothing that you love it might be dyed for a while).

Once I had all the coffee filters rung out, I threw them in the dryer. Yes, my clothes dryer. I adjusted the temp to be low-medium and then let them tumble around. But watch them, this is probably a no-no and a fire hazard, so don't leave your dryer unattended. But it only took a few minutes for the coffee filters to be fluffed and dry.

Now it is time to make the ruffley-flower things for the wreath. First, fold a coffee filter in half.

 Then cut it along the fold. Now you have 2 halves.

 Fold one half in half like this.

 Then in half again.

 Then twist the pointed end. If you don't want your wreath to be real fluffy, twist it more. If you want fluff, twist less.

 Snip off the pointy part with scissors.

 Then hold the twisted part and pull apart all the the different folded layers to look like this. Then glue it to the wreath form with hot glue. And repeat until your wreath is full. 

I added a small piece of ribbon to the back for hanging and you are done! Enjoy!