This past weekend was an absolute blast as we celebrated my daughter’s 1st birthday. I am dying to show you all of the details and DIY projects but I have to hold off just a bit! BUT since I tend to be a little impatient, I am giving you a sneak peek into the theme of the party by sharing one of my projects with you, a tea stained coffee filter wreath. This project may just look like another decorative wreath, but it actually holds a lot of family history and was a very special addition to her party.
I’ve seen some beautiful coffee filter wreaths and I have fallen in love with them. They are simply gorgeous and I knew I wanted to make one for Baby E’s birthday since it fit perfectly into the theme.
I wanted a more vintage look so I tea-stained the coffee filters using tea from my collection.
I love the texture the coffee filters bring and the romantic look.
As I mentioned earlier, this wreath has become very special to me because the gems used in the wreath were actually my great grandmother’s and the person who Baby E was named after. The pink and white pearl clusters were actually a pair of her earrings and the brooch was a gift given to her for 30 years of volunteer service at a local organization.
The ribbon also holds sentimental value as it was left over from my wedding day.
I really enjoyed making this wreath and I am really happy with how it turned out. It will be really special to tell Baby E about it one day.
In case you are curious on how I put this together, here are some basic instructions.
Instructions:
1. Place 5 dark color tea bags into a large pot. Bring to boil and then place on low-medium heat.
2. Place 20 coffee filters into the pot and use a spoon to make sure they are fully submerged. Soak them for 10-20 minutes or until you get the color that you want. Repeat until all of the coffee filters are stained ( I used about 100 for this wreath).
I clipped the coffee filters onto pant hangers and hung them in the laundry room to help them dry faster. I also spread a few out on top of paper towels and that worked too.
3. Let the coffee filters dry completely so they are not as fragile.
4. Wrap the coffee filter around a screw driver and push it into the wreath. You may need to do a few extra jabs to really get it secure in there.
5. Place the coffee filters about 1-1 1/2″ a part (to get the fullness of this wreath).
Repeat until the wreath is completely covered and add some bling of your choice!
If you like this, you are going to LOVE Baby E’s party!
About Taryn Whiteaker
Taryn Whiteaker is the voice of style behind TarynWhiteaker.com (formerly Design, Dining and Diapers) ! Taryn is a previous PR/Marketing professional who got back to her creative roots after becoming a mom and now shares her passion for home decor and design for the world to see. Taryn lives in the greater Seattle area with her husband and three kids and loves coffee, the outdoors, and exploring with her family.
Zsa Zsa says
March 19, 2012 at 5:05 amThat wreath is breathtaking. And how touching to incorporate those special gems.
Lindsay says
March 19, 2012 at 7:14 amGORGEOUS! I LOVE, love this. Actually, I have to make one, like ASAP. :) I was thinking about using food coloring though, and different flowers, so it won’t be a complete copy of yours. :) Thanks for the idea!
Maria says
March 19, 2012 at 7:33 amBEAUTIFUL! Absolutely beautiful! So pretty and elegant looking, just love it! Love how you stained it, too! I’m pinning this so I remember it for the future! Thanks for the inspiration! :o)
Megan says
March 19, 2012 at 8:39 amSimply gorgeous!!! I love the look of it. I’m your newest follower via the Skip to My Lou link party. Megan
Laurie @ Gallamore West says
March 19, 2012 at 9:52 amGorgeous!!! Seriously, so beautiful. I love, love wreaths and this one is simply stunning. I’m pinning onto my wreath board! :)
xo,
Laurie @ Gallamore West
Meg @ Nutmeg Place says
March 19, 2012 at 10:01 amVery pretty!!
Carrie says
March 19, 2012 at 1:12 pmNot a huge fan of non-winter wreaths, but this is really beautiful!
Andrea @ Keepin it Thrifty says
March 19, 2012 at 3:11 pmLove it Taryn! So cute! I pinned it !
Emerson Grey Designs says
March 19, 2012 at 7:11 pmI LOVE this…can’t wait to make one myself. I need a new wreath for Spring and this is perfect. Thank you for the tutorial!
Susan says
March 19, 2012 at 9:17 pmThis is just lovely! I love that you made it sooo special! I also like the idea of using different colored filters! Thanks for the inspiration.
xoxo
twentyfour7
Amanda @ The Little Giggler says
March 19, 2012 at 10:26 pmIt looks so beautiful! I’m pinning this! :)
Debbie {visual eye candy} says
March 20, 2012 at 6:34 amOkay this looks UH-MAZING! I love how it turned out. Defiantly pinning for future reference!
Briana says
March 20, 2012 at 12:12 pmthis is beautiful. i want to make one, but i’m not sure if it would be too fragile to put on an outside door. what do you think?
Lex Malla Books says
March 20, 2012 at 3:38 pmThis is so beautiful! I love it. Thanks for the tutorial.
Kelley Wilson says
March 21, 2012 at 3:36 amI can’t believe how easy this was and it is beautiful! Great Job
Petra says
March 21, 2012 at 5:35 ami fell IN LOVE with this…i ended up making it without the bow and gems [a lil too blingy for my home decor] and it came out REMARKABLE!!!! thanks for the inspiration!
here’s a tip: after taking them out the tea brew, get out as much tea as possible and then toss in the DRYER!!!! i became too impatient….LOL they dried FAST so this project took less than an hour, from start to finish!!!!
Alison says
March 21, 2012 at 9:33 amThis is seriously AMAZING!! I adore everything about it and your photography is just lovely! Thanks for sharing at oopsey daisy!
Erin @ How to Nest for Less says
March 22, 2012 at 2:15 pmLOVE!! Featuring you tomorrow :)
Carol @arewethereyet says
March 22, 2012 at 8:34 pmLovely – I loved the look of this wreath! Very nice job and thanks for sharing. I “hopped” over from Chic on a Shoestring link party. Hope you can “see” me too!
Hugs –
Carol@arewethereyet
Jenn @ Social Salutations says
March 23, 2012 at 9:01 amSo gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing the tutorial! I featured you today in my Friday I’m In Love favorites!
http://socialsalutations.blogspot.com/2012/03/friday-im-in-love-with-easter.html
XOXO
Jenn
Jenn@myfabulesslife says
March 23, 2012 at 9:36 amI am totally obsessed with this and have been waiting for the tutorial since I saw it on ECE’s competition. Good luck with the rest!
Jenn@myfabulesslife says
March 23, 2012 at 9:37 amI’m totally obsessed with this and have been anxiously awaiting the tutorial since I saw it on ECE’s competition. Good luck with the rest of the comp! I’m pinning this IMMEDIATELY :D
Elyse says
March 23, 2012 at 1:03 pmHi! I’m Elyse from Shabby Sweet Tea. I saw your wreath on Centsational Girl’s Spring Craft Link Party. I have seen many coffee filter wreaths on blogs and Pinterest. I must say, yours is by far the pretties!! You just added a new project to my list. I will be checking back to see more of your little girl’s party! Have a great weekend. Following on my way out!
carolyn - homework says
March 23, 2012 at 7:30 pmJust to let you know I featured your beautiful project on homework today. Come over and grab a featured button if you’d like. Have a great weekend.
Becca says
March 24, 2012 at 1:46 amWow! This wreath is so beautiful ad romantic looking!! Love it!! Great job!
xo Becca
Just Jaime says
March 24, 2012 at 9:20 amThis is so pretty and girly! I just dyed something for the first time (pants) and it was really fun!
We’d love to have you join us at Wayward Weekend, our new link party, http://www.waywardgirlscrafts.com/2012/03/wayward-weekend-9.html if you’re interested =)
Mrs. Handyverger says
March 25, 2012 at 9:21 amI love it! So pretty and delicate. My cats eat anything with foliage, so I’m going to have to try this around the house as an alternative to the usual spring wreaths.
Stef says
March 25, 2012 at 9:36 amReally lovely! I think the doing the tea-staining yourself rather than using unbleached coffee filters really gives it better dimension and a nice softness. I love the brooch and earring accents – so beautiful.
Paula-Riverton Housewives says
March 25, 2012 at 9:55 amThat is really beautiful! I love the tea stain color. We’d love for you to link this up to our party! http://housewivesofriverton.blogspot.com/2012/03/riverton-housewives-round-up-9.html
Emily says
March 25, 2012 at 9:05 pmSO lovely!! I adore this wreath. And, I love the sentimental touches! :)
Deborah says
March 27, 2012 at 6:14 amThat is the prettiest coffee filter wreath I’ve ever seen! I love I found you at Homework’s party. Have a great week!
Deborah
Deana says
March 27, 2012 at 7:19 pmThe Breville Automatic Tea Maker & Kettle is great for lazy people like me. I am complete sipping a cup of tea in the morning facing to monitor. Tea is a fuel to make the engine function and flow.
Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolates says
March 28, 2012 at 10:18 pmOh that wreath is SO beautiful!! Amazing. And I think I could actually do it!
Holly Lefevre says
March 29, 2012 at 9:28 amThis is my favorite coffee filter wreath ever….the special and sentimental touches make it extraordinary! Beautiful, beautiful job!
Jenny says
March 29, 2012 at 10:08 amThis is so gorgeous and glamorous. I can’t believe it’s coffee filters! I love this!
Jami says
March 29, 2012 at 12:36 pmThis is gorgeous! I love all the personal touches.
six sisters says
March 29, 2012 at 10:15 pmThis looks so cute! Thanks for linking up to our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday.” We love having you and hope you’ll be back next week! -The Sisters
Abbie (Five days...5 ways) says
March 30, 2012 at 5:19 amJust letting you know I’m featuring your absolutely GORGEOUS wreath today for Feature Friday FREE-FOR-ALL.
Great job!
~Abbie
Tammy says
March 30, 2012 at 8:45 amBeautiful… and the detail wow!
Taryn says
March 31, 2012 at 4:22 pmFrom one Taryn to another… wow! Very beautiful. Thank you!
Rhonda says
March 31, 2012 at 5:32 pmHow did you get the ribbon to look like roses? Was it gathered and sewn along the edges and then swirled into place or some other technique? I’m just not sure how to get those rosette looking ribbons?
rootedinthyme says
April 1, 2012 at 11:40 amWhat a great project! Would love if you could share on Simple & Sweet Fridays. Everyone will love it…
Jody
Enza says
April 2, 2012 at 1:39 amI fell in love with this gorgeous wreath, can you however tell me the size of wreath you bought and if you spray painted it.
Kathryn Cain says
April 17, 2012 at 6:50 pmlove love the look …to dry set oven at 200 and lay the coffee filters on cookie sheets they dry fast and you can get some interesting shades in color if you leave wrinkle as they dry
amy says
May 3, 2012 at 11:22 amAbsolutely gorgeous! I’m loving this…particularly how you were able to add such meaningful, sentimental connections to yourself and your grandmother. What a special treasure as well as a beautiful piece of home decor. Thank you so much for entering this in One Crafty Contest; best of luck to you!
Robin says
May 14, 2012 at 10:03 pmI LOVE this! It’s so cute! I am visiting from One Artsy Mama Craft Contest and wanted to stop by and say hi. I am following via facebook! Hope you will stop by http://www.garagesalesrus.blogspot.com/ and do the same
Robin
Silvia says
May 18, 2012 at 5:54 pmWhat size wreath did you use? Beautifully made.
B says
August 3, 2012 at 6:29 pmHey there, wondering what kind of wreath you used? is it Styrofoam? I have never seen one with the straw material before.Do you think I could get it at JoAnns or Michaels? Thanks so much for posting this. So lovely!
Amanda says
August 7, 2012 at 6:20 pmI have seen a lot of coffee filter wreaths, but this is the prettiest one I’ve ever seen!
Christy Karnatz says
August 8, 2012 at 1:04 pmTaryn, thanks for this delightful tutorial. I used your methods to make a similar pattern. I used burlap for the bow and flowers, added feather earrings to the center and hung it using jute. I would never have thought to do any of this if it weren’t for you. Thank you thank you! If you want to check out the finished product: http://preparationmeetingopportunity.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/project-1-tea-stained-coffee-filter-wreath-with-feathers-burlap-bow-and-flowers/
Evelyn says
August 12, 2012 at 6:41 amThank you for sharing! I am absolutely in love w this and I can’t wait to use these ideas for my daughter who will be 1 soon!!! Thanks for your creative amazing work!!!!
Christina says
February 24, 2014 at 6:07 pmI love this! So today I made one of my own. I had trouble attaching the ribbon. How did you attach yours? I sewed my bow to the coffee filters
Jonelle Vellan says
March 14, 2016 at 3:06 amThank you for your post. I have a lot of coffee filters left over from other projects. I now know ow what to do with then. I love the ideal of using the gems. I believe I will do the same. Thank you for that ideal. One question though, you said you just pushed the filters into the wreath and it stayed? You did not have to use glue or pin any of it?. Again thank you for this beautiful post.
Taryn says
March 14, 2016 at 10:13 amNo glue :) I wouldn’t pull on them, but they do stay in pretty well.