Keep Calm & Carry On: Coffee filter flowers Pt. 1

So looking through the web. i found some beautiful flowers made from coffee filters, the directions they gave were not the best so i have made my own :] it took all day yesterday and still tonight i have coffee filters laid out all over my living room lol. But they are well worth it :]

What you will need::

-coffee filters (i used a whole pack of 180. it takes about 4 to make a pretty flower.)
-Acrylic or Latex Craft paint (different colors if you would like I used all kinds just for one flower.)
-Old bowl big enough to fit filters
-Water
-Coat hangers with the clips or the regular hangers using clothes pins.
- plenty of drop cloth :]
-*Old jars

*optional

#1:

This is making some green flowers, I added some brown to it so it would look a little bit more natural, even though there aren't very many green flowers lol.

You put about 2tB of your main paint color and then just about 2drops of the brown :] You can just add as you go too. That is what I ended up doing for the most part.

#2:

now add just enough water to make it easy to mix up your paint. if you put too much in at first you won't mix the paint well enough and if you put too little the paint wont mix well enough, so just add a little at a time until you get a good consistency.

This is what it looks like when its not mixed up good. keep mixing :]

This is when you are ready to add enough water to cover your filters, about 2cups or so depending on the bowl you use.

#3:

Put your filters in the water and make sure they are covered well. you can do 20 at a time or less :] i tried to add more but some just didn't get as much color and it was kind of difficult to get them apart.

I put my bowl in the sink to minimize the mess. :]

#4:

Now for the messy part :]

squeeze out the excess paint just by squeezing the filters .

I would squeeze mine out and then put them back into the paint a couple of times just to get the wrinkled look. It makes them look more natural.

if they come out too dark or if you are wanting a really washed out look you can put them under cold water and squeeze out some of the paint.

#5:

Now you pull them apart. On some I left 2 together but the insides of them didn't dry very good. I folded mine in half and hung them from my hangers over my oven. (this is where you will need your drop cloth.)

If you don't let separate them it will take longer for them to dry out. this was my problem, and why I still have coffee filters spread all over my floor. :]