Valentine Coffee Filter Tree

You know I love coffee filters.

They are cheap and versatile.

I made this fun pink grungy tree for Valentine's day.

 For complete instructions to make your own, look here....

This time I used Fuchsia Dye and instant coffee crystals mixed together.

It creates a look I love.

A dusty color with touches of sepia.

It is pink without being too sweet...

I hope you like it as much as I do. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.

Outside Christmas in the Country

One of the things that has kept me very busy lately has been our Christmas open house.

We have it the first 2 weekends in December.

Today I thought I would show you my minimal holiday decorations that customers see between leaving their car and entering Christmas in the Country.

Welcome.

Right outside the door is our welcome sign and a new chicken wire dress form.

This little gal is for sale.

She is taller than the ones I made earlier this summer and does not require a separate base.

She can be secured anywhere in your garden with a couple of pieces of wire bent into a u shape and pushed into the ground.

Earlier this year, I shared a little Christmas banner  in a jar displayed here.

Now it welcomes guests and displays birdfeeders and garden totems.

A quick chalk sketch will probably have to be redone if it snows or rains....

Below is " the Annex".

It is a sweet little workspace behind my shed.

My husband gave me his old garage workbench and it makes a great outdoor workspace for gardening or creating. 

I also store things underneath... 

This is real world, folks...

Not blogland perfect.

Here is a twin to the chicken wire dress form.

This one is mine and she is decked out for winter with a lit garland wrapped skirt.

This shutter I got from that great neighbor of mine that drops off goodies from his truck.

I actually got to pick this one from his old barn...

Here's that little snowman again.

 You can see the whole vignette here.

The summer display just gets a winter makeover with some greenery.

 I love those Wooden Mushrooms...

So simple...

I always end up adding silly little things here and there....

This wreath on the birdhouse for example...

My handmade hypertufa birdbath gets a seasonal makeover.

Now it is filled with greens and goodies...

Honestly, they are bits that have fallen off other decorations nestled in a faux wreath.

That base is getting pretty chippy looking. 

It needs a makeover this summer but for now, I am enjoying it's chippy goodness.

This mini potting bench next to the shed doors always ends up being more of a display area than a work area.

That thermometer hasn't worked in years but it was here when we bought the house and I still love it.

The wooden ladder is literally on its last rung. 

That butterfly stepping stone on the bottom shelf was made by my daughter when she was small...

Most of my greens I get at the thrift store or yard sales in the summer.

I buy them up when someone has a big bunch for a reasonable price.

The skate swag was a thrift store score...

The birdhouses come from an Amish man that sets up at my favorite flea market.

He sells these for about $3.

I am not kidding...

I buy at least one new one each summer.

So these pallet flags are about 20 years old. 

I made them before pallet art was cool.

When it is really windy they blow off the shed doors.

From all the blowing around, they have lost their star centers.

I still love them.

This area actually hides our trash cans.

I built the cement block wall to hide them.

They are just stacked with landscape timbers on the top.

I added the flower boxes to further camouflage the trash cans.

I left the grasses from this summer and added greenery.

The greenery here is actually branches from an old Christmas tree.

It's the kind you assembled one branch at a time...

I stick the bent end into the soil to keep them in place.

Hey!  Here is that burlap ribbon I dyed.

If you missed the tutorial, you can find it here.

The princess pine garland was actually from my in laws.

  They bought me a bunch at a yard sale.

It is artificial but you don't really notice unless you touch it.

Both these benches were here at the house when we bought  it.

Though I seldom sit here, I do think there is something so welcoming about a bench....

Makes me want to sit....

Here is another goofy little touch around the candle bases.

It will look pretty when it snows...

A little bird feeder nestled in a pot with some greens...

For pots that stay out all winter I add some greens or a wreath.

I still need to add a wreath to that hook.

This little vignette is actually on our well cover.

That sweet little white cart also came from the neighbor's barn...

I know!

I have the best neighbors....

I nestled some greenery around the little thrift store pots of succulents.

I think this is actually a Christmas tree top from one of the yard sale Christmas trees.

You would never know....

Love these little pots.

Some years I just pile birdseed on the shelves in the winter....

I sort of worked backwards...

This is the display in the driveway.

That was a $3 tool bench from a yard sale...seating AND storage.

I painted it with OOPs paint from the home improvement store...

The milk can also came from that old barn several years back...

The sled was a $3 yard sale find a few years ago. 

It gets a holiday look with a thrift store swag and one of my burlap bows.

The slate came from one of my husband's coworkers. 

 I think he gave me 4 pieces...

Heading back the walkway...

This pot was here when we bought the house...

I nestle different goodies from time to time. 

My bamboo trellis is probably done.

I tied it together with twine for morning glories to climb in the summer.

These little guys are not quite done. 

 They need scarves and maybe a hat...

They will be little woodsman snowmen...

We are back to the door....

I hope you will stop back to see a peek at the inside.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.

Coffee Filter Wreaths

I love materials that are unusual or unexpected.

A very versatile and affordable craft material is coffee filters.

They are fabulous and fun.

I love them for wreaths...

The finished product is very lightweight which makes them great for hanging.

Today I just wanted to share a few of my coffee filter wreaths. 

Many of them I use RIT dye to color.

You can see my RIT Studio here.

This sweet pink oval wreath is a great accent.

You can find the complete instructions here.

                                    

Those basic directions can be used to create a variety of wreaths and projects.

This heart wreath uses the same directions but I cut the base shape from a large cardboard box.

 I used 14 flowers and really pushed them together to get a very dense look.

These make a great Valentine's day accent.

They would also be perfect for a wedding...

When I cut the base shape from cardboard, I wrapped it with scrap fabric strips that I also dyed.

If I hang it on a door or window, the back looks almost as nice as the front...

The great thing about the coffee filters is the variety of colors you can achieve with the RIT dye.

The next wreath color was achieved with a weaker Fuchsia dye bath that I added coffee to.

LOVE IT!!!

The following wreaths were done by coffee dyeing the filters.

You could also just use the unbleached filters.

It would be less work but I like the look of the dyed one.

This round wreath uses the flower method again.

This heart wreath does not.

I took each filter and folded into fourths and then twisted the point like I described here in my Rose Banner Tutorial.

I usually do a huge stack of them while watching tv.

I just toss them into a pop-up laundry basket that I can take to the garage/studio when I am ready.

The base for this wreath was cut from a piece of newspaper and then traced on a cardboard box.

You could use foam core too.

I just started at the top in one corner and glued them on, adding as I went. 

The little twisted point of the coffee filter gets stuck in the glue so your fingers don't get burned.

The wreath below is a favorite. 

I like the rectangular shape.

I donated this one to a local cause for a fundraiser.

I will have to make another one to keep.

Last, but not least, are a couple book pages wreaths that I used the coffee filter flowers for the center.

These are all over Pinterest...with good reason.

They are fabulous.

I am careful what kinds of books I use for the petals...

Only damaged and discarded books.

Very often, Reader's Digest books. 

Seems like no one wants those and they end up thrown away.

I can't let that happen!

So I rescue them from the trash and "to be recycled" bins...

They are simple to make.

Remove book pages.

Twist each into a cone and secure with clear tape.

Then staple about 1 inch from the tip.

I also do this while watching tv.

I fill that collapsible laundry hamper and then I go out and make as many wreaths as that many pages will complete.

At first I used a round shape for the base but I learned to just use a piece of rectangular foam core.

For the large size, I use a quarter sheet.

I sketch rounded corners on the foam core and use that for the base as I am gluing them on.

MUCH easier than measuring, cutting, etc...

This smaller one uses a 1/8th sheet of foam core.

And then I just finish it off with a coffee filter flower.

What common material do you use in unusual ways?

Thanks for stopping by...

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