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.

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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.

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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