We’ve got Spring fever! Every time we step outside we see more beautiful flowers blooming. We hear the birds happily chirping. The trees and grass are all starting to turn green again. It’s that magical time of year! And we desperately wanted to find a way to bring some of that outdoor magic, right into our home. So, we decided to create our very own gorgeous bouquet of Kwik Stix Coffee Filter Flowers!
I guess you could say that we’re a bit flower-obsessed as of late. π We just can’t help it! All of the Spring-themed stories that we’ve been reading lately are chock-full of beautiful flowers. But I think what really set us abuzz was our recent adventure to the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder, Colorado. Every year tulips are planted in the numerous garden beds along the walking mall…and when Spring arrives, the mall bursts to life!
It really is a breathtaking sight. And nothing beats strolling down the bricks on a warm Spring afternoon…just soaking up all of the vibrant colors. Talk about magical! We make sure to pay a visit every Spring, and we are never disappointed. If you’re ever in the area during this time of year…it’s an experience that you definitely won’t want to miss!
Needless to say, after our afternoon tulip adventure, a colorful flower craft could not be avoided. π
Kwik Stix Coffee Filter Flowers
Supplies:
- Coffee Filters (flattened)
- Kwik Stix Tempera Paint Sticks
- Green Pipe Cleaners (paper straws work too)
- Stapler
Step One – Coloring the Coffee Filters
This step is really quite simple…grab some flattened coffee filters, and your set of Kwik Stix tempera paint sticks, and get creative! You can decorate your coffee filters in any way your heart desires – rainbows, polka dots, patterns, shapes – anything goes. We made coffee filter flower suncatchers last year, by dripping watered-down food coloring onto our coffee filters. We’ve also done the same exact technique using liquid watercolors…and we’ve painted on coffee filters with our pan watercolors as well. This craft is incredibly versatile!
We wanted to switch things up a bit this year, and since our little nugget has been asking to use our tempera paint sticks for every single project lately, we decided to bust them out to create an incredibly colorful bouquet of Spring flowers! The Kwik Stix paint sticks are simply magical! The colors are incredibly vibrant – and the 24-pack even includes a handful of sparkly metallic colors, that we just cannot get enough of. They are the size and shape of glue sticks…making them perfect for little hands to grasp and manipulate. And the best part? The paint dries in 90 seconds! Yes…seconds! You don’t have to sit around and wait for your beautiful masterpiece to dry, and you can layer on multiple colors without a single worry.
Step Two – Creating the Flowers
Once your coffee filters are fully decorated, you can move right on, and immediately bring your flowers to life. There is no need to take a break and wait for your coffee filters to dry, because the Kwik Stix paint is already dry. Woohoo!
I learned this simple coffee filter flower folding technique from the dynamic mother-daughter duo of Kara and Kinley (from Raising Kinley). Grab your colorful coffee filters, an equal amount of green pipe cleaners (or green paper straws), and a stapler. Working with one coffee filter at a time, start by folding the coffee filter in half – but make sure not to crease the fold. Fold the coffee filter again (into quarters) and refrain from creasing the fold. Grab a pipe cleaner and lay it in the center of the pointed-end of the coffee filter. Fold the coffee filter over the pipe cleaner (not creasing) and place that section into your stapler. Staple the coffee filter to the pipe cleaner. Repeat the above steps for all of your colored coffee filters.
After each coffee filter has been stapled to a pipe cleaner, it’s time to fan out the flowers. Gently pull the coffee filters apart at the tops, until you’ve given each and every one a nice flower shape. Place your beautiful bouquet of coffee filter flowers into a vase, mason jar, milk jar, etc. Feel free to cut the pipe cleaners down, if necessary, so that they fit in your vase of choice. Display your bouquet on the dining room table, or use it to brighten up any other room in the house!
We loved making these coffee filter flowers so much, that we decided to just keep crafting…and now we have three gorgeous bouquets adding pops of color all around our living room and dining room! They make my heart so happy every single time I come downstairs. This easy craft is also a great way to bring some of the wonders of Spring right inside…without having to worry about any household allergies to actual living flowers and plants. π
If you’re in need of some more allergy-safe flowers for your home this season, make sure to check out our Paper Flowers for Spring post! There are a few other fun ideas in our Springtime Toddler Crafts post, and in case you missed them last week…here’s a link to our Muffin Tin Print Flower Gardens!
HAPPY SPRING!Β
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