• 0 items$0.00
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

  • BLOG
    • Knitting
    • Crochet
    • Latch Hook
    • Macramé
    • Punch Needle
  • ABOUT
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • YouTube

How to: Make a Coffee Filter Garland Pt. 1

September 29, 2010 Leave a Comment

Supplies
bleached coffee filters
string (doesn’t really matter what kind – I used plastic twine)
food coloring
a large bowl
needle and thread

Here’s how to make an adorable pom-pom garland out of coffee filters. This project was inspired by this wedding featured at MarthaStewartWeddings.com, and I followed these instructions for constructing the pom-poms themselves.

When I find inspiring crafts online, there aren’t always instructions to go along with them. This was the case with the Martha Stewart garland. They had the glorious (seriously – click the link above) pictures from a featured DIY wedding on their site , and absolutely no instructions. It turns out that coffee filter garlands of many shapes and forms aren’t all that uncommon. A couple years ago, Anthropologie used a garland made of unbleached (brown) coffee filters in a winter catalog, and the crafty blogosphere exploded. This woman was one such reactionary crafter.

I digress. Back to the how to! See right column for photos showing you what the heck I’m trying to describe in my instructions. I’m dead serious when I say that there’s nothing more frustrating than bad crafting instructions.

  1. Lay out some garbage bags on a flat surface. These will be used for laying out the filters to dry.
  2. Grab two coffee filters. Fold them in half together, grab the center, and fold them up around that center point as shown.
  3. Mix a couple drops of food coloring and water. Tip: If you want a variety of colors, add just a couple drops of color at first. Then add a couple more drops of color for every subsequent dyeing. That way you’ll get darker and darker results as you go.
  4. Dip and flip:
    • Wear gloves to avoid dying your hands
    • Grab two bundles of filters
    • Dip only the top half of them in your dye water
    • Flip them to allow the dye to filter (pun not intended) the dye through the entire filter
    • Squeeze out excess dye, though there shouldn’t be too much to get rid of – the dip & flip technique avoids having much excess dye all over the place. This will also help speed up drying time.
  5. Lay dyed, wet filters on your garbage bags to dry. This blogger was totally upfront about her impatience with drying dyed coffee filters and suggests drying the filters in the oven. Personally, that made me nervous, and I knew I needed to make these en masse. I just set up card tables in my basement and turned up the dehumidifier.
  6. Remember to turn your dyed filters every couple of hours to make sure they dry completely. I found that the garbage bags I used as a drying surface worked great for storage, but make sure your filters are 100% dry before putting them in there. Garbage bags don’t exactly breathe. I had visions of a giant bag of mold when I realized I’d stored some of my filters before they were completely dry.

I’ll have instructions for assembling the pom-poms and garland ready in the next couple days. For now, happy dyeing.

Filed Under: DIY Wedding, How-to Tagged With: coffee filter, dyeing, food coloring, garland, wedding

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

Previous Post: « In Progress: My Wedding Bouquet
Next Post: How to: Make a Coffee Filter Garland Pt. 2 »

Reader Interactions

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?
Visit similar articles...

  • Coffee Filter Garland RoundupCoffee Filter Garland Roundup
  • How to: My Wedding Craft Party Pom Pons!How to: My Wedding Craft Party Pom Pons!
  • Expanding on the Coffee Filter ConceptExpanding on the Coffee Filter Concept
  • Picks of the Week for June 30, 2017 | Hands OccupiedPicks of the Week

DON’T MISS ANOTHER UPDATE

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

UPDATES BY EMAIL

Monthly highlights sent to your inbox.

Find Me Elsewhere, If You’re There

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
Latch Hook by Heidi GustadDiscover Unique Items

Footer

INSTAGRAM

handsoccupied

Craft book author & pattern designer ❤️💛💙
knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé
.
Please email for pattern support. 🧶

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style . How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style 
.
In knitting, there are a few common knitting styles. Most often you’re going to encounter continental style and English (throwing) style on your knitting journey. I recently had an old video teaching continental style get a lot of views. Based on the comments, it was clear the people wanted to also see a throwing tutorial, so here you go! 🧶
.
Please note that there is a LOT of variation in knitting styles, and one isn’t necessarily better than another. Most often, I’ve found it comes down to two things: how you were taught and whether or not you’re really into colorwork knitting (which can involve a mix of styles). 
.
Longer-term knitters who’ve made it this far: do you prefer one over the other? And why? 
.
#handsoccupied #englishknitting #learntoknit #knitting #howtoknit #knittersofinstagram #knitting_inspiration
How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on / a.k.a. crochet provisional cast on, scrap yarn cast on
.
I read recently that tiktok and Instagram are being used as search engines more and more. 🤔 I thought since I’m going to all the work of making tutorials on YouTube, I should experiment with making a quick version of them for other platforms. There are obvious teaching limitations to vertical video, short-form content like this, but I think I covered the gist of this cast on in a minute. The YouTube version also covers how to unzip this cast on because there was time for it 👍🏻 L1nk is in my profile. 
.
I’m very much looking for feedback as I continue to make instructional knitting & craft videos. Sometimes good tutorials are hard to find, and (ideally polite) feedback helps me improve. 
.

#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #knititngtutorial #knittersofinstagram #crochethook #knittingtutorial
For the first time in a long time, there’s a new For the first time in a long time, there’s a new tutorial from Hands Occupied! 🎉 The video is live on YouTube & the blog. 
.
The post covers what provisional cast ons are & how they differ, and the video covers how to work a one-step provisional cast on using scrap yarn and a crochet hook. (This is a great one to save for future reference.)
.
I learned several names for this method while researching this video & post. Crochet provisional cast on, one-step cast on, scrap yarn cast on - if you know even more names for this technique, please share! 
.
#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #scrapyarn #crochethook
Working on a sample for some upcoming videos. It’s an overcast day with intermittent sunshine & I have a scruffy little sidecar. 🐶 Can’t complain! 
.
What’s on your needles this week? 
.
Yarn: @debbieblissknits Cashmerino Aran 
.
#handsoccupied #knitting #knittinglife
Peg boards and craft room organization go together Peg boards and craft room organization go together like peanut butter and jelly. So, as you can see, do latch hook tools and screwdriver organizers! 🪛 
.
I think this trick translates to any tool with a thick handle, so leather working tools, punch needles, print making tools, etc. should work! What other tools am I, a needlecrafter, blanking on right now? 
.
#craftorganization #handsoccupied #latchhook #latchhooking
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 / Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework / Branding by Ink + Mortar
All Site & Shop Policies / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy