Coffee Filter Wreath

Only 2 days before Thanksgiving, I decided not to clean the house, but to make a beautiful wreath to decorate our dining room for Thanksgiving.

Can you say "procrastination"?  I'm an expert.

With the kids down for nap, I gathered the materials I had purchased earlier in the morning:

-14" straw wreath form (half price of $3.47 at Hobby Lobby)

-200 natural coffee filters (99 cents on sale at Target)

-hot glue gun

-glue sticks (LOTS)

-scissors (didn't end up using)

-ribbon for hanging

I found A LOT of tutorials around the web for coffee filter wreaths.  And I picked and chose from the several I read to make up my own version.

I started with a straw wreath form, but I left it wrapped in the plastic cover.  I had read about this on a tutorial from The Nester.  The plastic wrap provided a nice even surface to attach the coffee filters.

 Then I covered the entire wreath with a solid layer of coffee filters.  I picked up this tip from Jones Design Company.  I was worried that if the coffee filters didn't completely cover, I didn't want the straw/plastic to show through.

 Then I started attaching the filters.  I don't have photos of this part, but I folded the filter in half, then in half again, then in half again (is that eighths?).  At first I was cutting the triangular end of the filter off to create a flat surface, and then attaching with hot glue.  (see it here)

This is about as far as I made it with that method.  It was just too hard to keep the filter folded up, standing up, and attached.  So I stopped cutting, and just folded that little end piece over, and using that to glue the filter to the wreath.

 Here you can see my little flaps glue down.  Despite having that little flap to adhere...I still burned my fingers on almost ALL 200 filters.  Ouch.

 About halfway done.

...200 coffee filters later!

I simply tied a brown satin ribbon around the wreath (you could attach with hot glue or pins) and tied the ribbon around my curtain rod in the dining room.

I had considered hanging it on the mirror along the opposite wall, but I was afraid you could see the ugly back in the mirror's reflection.  Plus, simply tying it on the curtain rod was SO much easier.

I'm very pleased with how the wreath looks with my goldenrod drapes from Restoration Hardware. Next, I'll show you how it looks with my Thanksgiving table all set!