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a pretty autumn wreath

    autumn flower wreath

    Today I have a tutorial of sorts to share. It is not a full tutorial because 1. I learned to make the flowers from an already pretty amazing tutorial and 2. I left my camera in Ryan’s truck and was too impatient to wait to put it together until he came home so I don’t have photos of the actual attaching to the wreath phase of the project.  Sometimes you just have to go with it when the crafting bug gets you.

    This wreath is a combination of a regular grape vine wreath you can purchase at the craft store, lots of coffee filter flowers and a few acorn and berry sprigs. There is a section at the craft store near the floral stuff with all kinds of glittery birds on sticks and wired leaf sprigs that I’m not really sure what they are for, but I am a sucker for them.  These acorns were from that section and I’ve had them laying around for a few years never knowing quite what to do with them.  But I think they make the perfect subtle autumn touch to a pretty girly flowery wreath.

    Okay, so on with the tutorial. I learned how to make these coffee filter roses from this tutorial but I’ll show you how I did it just for extra clarification.

    paint-colors-for-wreath

    I wanted fall-ish colors for my flowers, so I used yellow, pink, red and orange paint. I mixed in brown with all of them to make them muddier. I started by dying white coffee filters, but then figured out that the natural colored ones work better for making muted colors.

    dip-coffee-filter-in-paint

    Mix your paint with water, stir well, scrunch in a stack of coffee filters and let them soak up the paint. Then squeeze out and let dry.

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    I dried some flat on paper towels, but then ran out of room and made a clothes line to dry the rest.

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    Okay, now on to the flower making part. Again, you can see in detail how to create each flower from this tutorial on Aunt Peaches, but here is my rendition.

    For flower #1, fold three coffee filters into quarters, cut a scalloped edge along the top and then a scalloped center.

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    Open up the filters and cut the outer ring open.

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    With the center pieces, twist in the middle to create a petal and press onto a strip of masking tape. This will make the center of the rose. Do this will all three center pieces.

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    Now this part is the trickiest to explain, although it isn’t that tricky to do. You just have to try it and you’ll catch on. Basically, take one of the outer ring pieces, pleat it and stick it to the edge of the tape. Continue with each of the three pieces until you have a long strip of ruffly looking paper.

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    Next, start at the center petals and start rolling to create the flower.

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    When you are done, you will have a pretty paper flower.

    coffee filter flower

    If you want to vary the size, can add an extra filter or two.

    To make a smaller flower, cut one coffee filter into a spiral.

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    Now open it up and beginning with the center, start ruffling and sticking the strip to a piece of tape.

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    Now roll from the center :

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    : and you have this sweet flower.

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    After lots and lots of flower making {it probably took 40 to make this wreath}, I cut off the backs to make the flowers flat and glued them to the grape vine wreath.

    autumn coffee filter flower wreath with acorns

    It was really pretty with just the flowers, but I wanted it to look a little more like Autumn, so I added in a few berries and acorns {attaching with hot glue}.

    autumn coffee filter flower wreath

    autumn coffee filter flower wreath with acorns and berries

    I think this is my favorite of all wreaths I’ve made.

    pretty autumn coffee filter flower wreath with acorns and berries

    Probably because Fall is my favorite of all seasons.

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    Want more wreath inspiration? I have created a few other wreaths to get you started :

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    71 thoughts on “a pretty autumn wreath”

    1. hello my name is Magali, I live in France in Foix,
      I discovered your site yesterday I found your Couronnes roses with beautiful fall colors and I have already tried them but I can not find even coffee filters. If you know a little France can you tell me what to use as the other.
        I thank you
      Magali

    2. Thanks so much for posting this tutorial. It was exactly what I was looking for when I wanted to make a paper rose christmas wreath for my niece. It turned out beautiful. Thanks again.

    3. Hello, after the flowers are made what did you stick them to? This will be my first wreath and I dont know the best material to make sure its a nice sturdy wreath… thanks

      1. I put them on a grapevine wreath. Just hotglued them. You could also try a styrofoam wreath wrapped in ribbon. Then either straightpin the flowers in or hot glue. Enjoy!

    4. You were really good at the step by step instructions. The part that you said was tricky to understand- I thought, “Well. I’m going to get lost now…” But I totally understood what you were saying! The wreath is beautiful– I’ll be making one soon!

    5. I’m in the process of making this wreath and I’m so excited! The first flower didn’t come out quite right but after a few I think I’m getting the hang of it. You’ve also inspired me to paint my door so it’s getting a fresh coat of blue before I hang this beautiful wreath on it :) Thanks for all the great DIY projects and easy instructions!

    6. Wow – coffee filter flowers whowudathunkit?!!! A soooo love them & everything else too! Just came across your site & will defo visit loads from now on. A canny wait tae get started yippee!

    7. Wow, I can’t get my flowers to look right at all. They look like balls of trash. I have no idea how to get this project back on track. . . my flowers are terrible!!

    8. I loved your wreath so much, it inspired me to do one for Halloween. I followed the same instructions except only used black paint. It came out amazing. Thank you for the inspiration and easy to follow instructions.

    9. Thanks for the inspiration!! I’ve had the Aunt Peaches tutorial starred in my reader since the day she posted it. Your wreath was the last push I needed to start crafting. I’m happy to report that I just completed my first wreath. I still need to do a second one since I have double doors in the front. My husband loved it too!

      1. I’m assuming that you are putting them outside on the door–is this right? I’m really wanting to make one for our front door, but I’m terrified of it getting ruined in the rain. We do not have any cover over our door or anything. Do you have any suggestions or is there a covering over your doors so you won’t have to worry about it?

    10. Just wanted to tell you….I dyed my coffee filters today and made two flowers…at least at this point. There is something I’d like to ask: How long did you let the filters soak in the paint/water mixture? My colors came out extremely muted, but it’s possible I didn’t use enough paint. I’m pretty sure I used about 3 Tbsp like the other tutorial advised, but yours just seem so much darker. I will try the brown filters tomorrow to see if it helps some, but I’m doing Halloween colors and would like the blacks to come out darker. Any suggestions or tips?

    11. YOU ARE A LIFESAVER! I logged on to see if I could find anything to make for my MIL’s birthday on Thursday. Nothing like a little procrastination to work up a sweat. The wreath is beautiful and THE perfect gift: frugal, easy, and handmade.

    12. Hello! I love this wreath! What a brilliant idea to die the coffee filters! I started making one of the coffee filter fluffs a while ago…. But never finished! :) I absolutely love it though… It is calling to me from my cabinet as I type! Haha :) My dream is to make a giant coffee filter fluff and maybe somehow turn it into a light fixture. I wanted to also tell you I accidentally entered the giveaway twice! I was wondering if there was an easy way to cancel one of my posts without searching through all the comment? If not, no problem! Thank you so much for all you do, you are inspiring me everyday!

      Julie :)

    13. Another great wreath! And here I still need to make your spring wreath that I fell in love with so long ago. Lol. This one looks like quite a bit of work but I do love the results!

    14. Absolutely beautiful! Will be making two. One for me and one for my twenty one year old daughter who is graduating (and moving out) this year. She and I will have a ball with this project. One question, you listed four colors, mixed with brown, red, pink, orange and yellow. I see five cups. The fifth cup is…?? Thanks!

    15. Confession: I’m not a big wreath fan. Despite this, I continue to read your blog because you make everything look good. ;)

      But THIS wreath?? Oh goodness and thank you, thank you, thank you — you have a convert.

    16. OH MY GOODNESS! This has to be one of the most beautiful wreaths I have ever seen! I’m hyperventilating,… okay, I’m not but I love, love it. You make such beautiful things, Emily! Thank you so much for sharing.

    17. I was already in love with the coffee filter wreath, now I am really in love!! I can’t wait to make one of the beautiful wreath. Thanks so much for posting these beautiful projects, and I love that they fit my budget.

    18. It’s beautiful! The flowers are really really gorgeous! I absolutely love the colors and the added detail of the acorns and berries! Brilliant! Thanks so much for sharing!

      1. My secret to crafting time consuming crafts is doing it over the course of a couple of days. I just left out my supplies and made a few flowers when I had the chance. It did take a while, but when split up into chunks of time, it was only 20 minutes here, 10 minutes there. Once I had all of the flowers made, it took maybe an hour to attach them all to the wreath.

    19. This wreath is gorgeous and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the flowers look to make! I think I’ll make two: one for the fall and another for Halloween. I’ll definitely link to this tutorial when I post them on my blog!

      I love your projects! Thanks for sharing!

    20. What a gorgeous thing of beauty. (I especially loved your trusty filter drying line!) We are all blessed with so many gifts, and patience is not one of mine! I’d have to admit myself into some rehab program after tackling this project! Thank goodness for patient, talented people like you in the world!

    21. This is simple beautiful! This is the first wreath I think I will attempt. Only I wish you would have shown a photo of the grape vine wreath before you transformed it into the magnificient fall wreath. The colors are so pretty!

    22. Emily I agree. This is definitely your prettiest wreath! I love the others…they were lovely, a little edgy, and very fun. I just have to say this tutorial came about at just the right time. Two packages of coffee filters – and I don’t drink coffee – are waiting for a project. And seriously…I lost interest in the fluffy filter wreaths. But. Ta Da! Emily to the rescue!

      Blessings!!!

    23. Well: WOW! looks really nice and soft (as Shelley says).
      But sooo much time u did in this work. Well, i don’t think i have this time, because i want to do so many other things, also some of those u did. Oh and I’ve made one of those flowers for my baby girls headband :D

    24. This is so cool! I seriously thought when I looked at the first picture, that you must have bought some really nice silk flowers. They turned out great! I think they would also look really great attached to a package for gift giving. Love the colors too!

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