Coffee Filter Flower & Carrot Easter Favors

When someone once asked my son what I did for a living, his response was that I made pretty things and mailed them to other people. That's just about right, so during holidays I try very hard to make things for his Kindergarten class. His look of pride when I arrive with gifts makes it all worthwhile. 

This year I was tossing around the idea of making crepe paper flower baskets, modeling them on versions found in one of my vintage craft books. However, I was so smitten with the coffee filter flower bowls featured in Martha Stewart Living that I decided to alter my approach for a faster, easier, less expensive version. But those frilly flowers just weren't going to cut it for the boys in the class. My son and I settled on carrots and I was still able to make them with coffee filters, which visually pulls everything together.

As fussy as these projects look, they came together very quickly. I dyed all of the coffee filters in stacks, which was a breeze. The greatest time commitment was the overnight drying time (which could be shortened by creating smaller stacks of filters).  Once you get the hang of it, each basket or carrot takes about 10 minutes to make, so definitely a doable project, even for a large class. 

Fortunately, they meet my son's rather exacting standards, which is all that counts. I caught him trying to sneak a carrot in his backpack, so I know we have a winner.

 

Flower Baskets:

Materials:

Junior size basket coffee filters (4-6 cup size)
Food safe food coloring (I used McCormick Neon, Regular, and Fall (orange))
Shallow dish
Paper towels
Large rectangular baking pan or wire racks
Scissors
Nut/candy cups
Floral stems (for basket handle)
Glue dots (optional)
Quick-setting gel glue (Beacon 3-in-1 Glue)

Directions:

1. Dye your coffee filters:  Mix 12-20 drops of food coloring into a small amount of water (approximately 1 cup).

For the leaves: Put a stack of filters in the dye (as they absorb the dye, they will completely flatten out). Let them sit for a minute or two, then remove them from the dye. Let the excess drip off and then put them aside to dry on a paper towel lined baking tray or on a wire rack set over paper towels.

For the flowers:  Working in stacks, dip the edges of the filters into the dye, letting it work its way up as high as you'd like, but not saturating the bottom. Remove the stack from the dye, let the excess drip off, then put them aside to dry face down, keeping the shape of the filter intact. 

2. Stack 5 dry filters together (2 of one color for the middle, 3 of another color for the outer petals), then fold in half. Make a slit in the middle of the half, then cut those two portions in half again. Finally, cut slits along the folded edge. Round the cut edges to make petal shapes.

3. Cut a floral stem in half, then bend it to form a "U" shape. Attach it to the sides of the nut cup using glue dots or another strong glue.

4. Take the top coffee filter and push it into the nut cup, arranging the petals as desired.

5. Put a little glue on the bottom of the nut cup and around the top edge on the outside. Attach the second coffee filter around the outside of the nut cup. These two layers will cover it.

6. Run a line of glue around the bottom and the outer bottom edge of the petal covered nut cup and attach the third coffee filter, cupping it up a bit so it connects with the glued edge. Attach the fourth and fifth filters by gluing them onto the bottom of the cup.

7. Fold a green filter in half, cut a leaf shape, then glue it to the bottom of the flower basket.

 

 

Carrots:

#6 size white Cone Filters
Junior size basket coffee filters (4-6 cup size)
Food safe food coloring (I used McCormick Neon green, and Fall orange)
Shallow dish (9-inch square dish is perfect)
Paper towels
Large rectangular baking pan or wire racks
Scissors
Quick-setting gel glue (Beacon 3-in-1 Glue)
Pinking shears (optional)

Directions:

1. Create a dye bath for the carrots and one for the leaves.

Carrots: Lay a stack of #6 cone filters flat in the orange dye bath and let them soak for a few minutes. Remove the stack, let the excess drip off, and set aside to dry on a wire rack set over paper towels or in a paper towel lined baking sheet. 

Leaves: Dip the fluted edges of a stack of basket filters into the green dye and let the dye travel up around the edges of the filter. Let the excess dye drip off, then put the stack aside to dry face down, so that it stands up and retains its fluted shape. 

2. Make a cone shape from the dry orange filter and secure with a line of glue along the seam. Fill the cone with candy, blocking the bottom hole with a piece of candy (chocolate eggs are perfect). Fill 2/3 of the way up.

3. Pinch the edges of the orange filter together to create a carrot shape. Take the green filter and gather it into a point at the bottom. Snip off the bottom tip with scissors or pinking shears. 

4. Run a little glue along the outside the orange carrot top; place the green filter over the orange "stem" and squeeze shut.

Comments

[Kevin]

These are wonderful! My partner is going to really enjoy making these when I show her this page. Thank you she will be so happy!

[sharon]

I used green cupcake liners for the tops of the carrots, so did not have to worry about dye or flattening. Worked great.

[Lisa]

Before dipping them in stacks, I placed a rubber band around them closer to the base. Placed them on the dish rack upside down and in a sunny window. After an hour I removed the band and they have maintained their shape. I bought the cheap filters from WalMart, so far so good! Good luck.

[vivek]

I Just Love Flower Baskets Idea. It's a good Creative and very innovative idea.

[Katie Adams]

These are gorgeous! Thank you for sharing the tutorial on how you made them.

[Christina @ I Gotta Create!]

Super Cute! Pinning :)

<3 Christina @ I Gotta Create!
Wildly Original link party is open

[Suzonne]

Thanks, Leticia! I think you're right - very cute for a baby shower.

[Leticia Villagomez]

how cute I like this idea for a baby shower

or a mother's day gift. thank you for

sharing your ideas.

[Christina]

These are adorable! Thanks so much for sharing the how-tis- love the carrots! :)

[Suzonne]

Ann, did you dye them in stacks and dry the stacks upside down? I know that the filters I dyed individually flattened out and stayed that way (like the ones I did for the carrots). I may have dyed as many as a dozen of the filters at a time for the flowers, leaving them stacked tightly, and letting them dry for awhile before trying to pull them apart. If you did all that and it still didn't retain the ruffled shape, then I can only suggest trying a different brand. Hope you like your finished result anyway - after all, there's more than one kind of flower!

[Ann in PA]

Made these tonight. So cute. I have a quick question,how did you keep the round filters from flattening out? I even tried just dipping the edges with no luck.

[doro von Hand zu Hand]

a pretty idea!
I linked to your tutorial on my blog - thanks for sharing!

♥, doro von Hand zu Hand

[Donaldson Filters]

I just discovered you at the creative crow. These are extremely pretty! lovely!

[KatieJ]

These turned out beautiful! What a fun mom you are!

[[email protected]]

I just found you at the crafty crow. These are exceptionally pretty! lovely!

[Suzonne]

I believe I found mine at Michaels in either the cake decorating aisle or wedding.  It's possible places like Walmart and Party City have them, too.  I'd call first.  And if you call a place like Party City, it's possible that they refer to them as condiment cups, so I'd ask for that as well.

Good luck!  Have a happy Easter!

[Elizabeth]

Could you tell me what stores (and where in the store) you can find those nut cups? Thanks!

[jennie]

Love these=) Too cute, pinned on my Pinterest for my girls parties! Thanks for the idea and how to=)

[Janice]

These baskets are really lovely, but, the carrots are especially brilliant!