Quilting Time Out - Coffee Filter Flowers

Welcome to end-of-year teacher gift season!  This year we needed gifts for 6 teachers/caregivers.  My son has 4 people who help care for him at MOPS and my daughter has 2 fantastic pre-school teachers.  We made some sugar foot scrub for each of them, but this entry isn't about that.  This is about the coffee filter flowers that we made to decorate the packages.  They're inexpensive, cute and handmade.  What more can you want?  Here's how to make your own!

For each flower, you'll need 3 round (not cone) coffee filters and one pipe cleaner (these days they're labeled as chenille stems, but I'm feeling old-school today).  You'll also need regular kid markers (not permanent), paper towels, a water spray bottle (or squirt gun, anything to spray water) and a microwave.

1.  Flatten each coffee filter and color it with the markers.

2.  Lay colored filter on paper towels and spritz with water until damp or a little wetter than that.
 

3.  Microwave the filter on paper towels on high until dry, checking every 30 seconds or so until you know how long it takes your microwave to dry the filter.  It took mine 2 - 2 1/2 minutes.  Allow the microwave to cool a bit between filters.  Mine overheated after a while.  It's ok now though.

This is one wet, then dried.  Sometimes it is more spectacular than this.  The more water you use, the more the colors mix.  Also, getting more color on the filter helps, too.

4.  Stack 3 dried filters.  Pinch in the center to create a flower look.  Wrap a pipe cleaner around the center in the back for a stem.

5.  Add to an already thoughtful teacher gift for a stunning presentation!  I tied the stem into the ribbon on these jars.