Let It Snow! Coffee Filter Snowflake Tutorial

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? Absolutely not! But this post isn't about that. This post is about the fact that I have 200+ coffee filters cluttering up my space. They need to get out of the plastic bag I corralled them in and start doing something useful!

While skimming along in blog-land trying to find a use for these freeloaders, I noticed that quite a few people making the most extraordinary things from coffee filters--flowers, wreathes, bats, spiderwebs, and snowflakes. I, like you, thought it was too early to start making snowflakes; then I thought about the sheer number of coffee filters I have, waiting to be used. I quickly changed my mind. If I start now I might be done by December (or January).

Here's how I do it:

Step 1: Fold & Cut

Fold the coffee filter into twelfths (for a six pointed snowflake), then channel your inner kindergartner and cut those snowflakes! (The one I cut here was supposed to look like a spider web in honor of Halloween; but I didn't like how it turned out, so I didn't post about this back in October.)

Step 2: Starch

... and Dry

I wanted to give my snowflakes a little stiffness since coffee filters are the weight of heavy tissue paper, so I sprayed them with heavy starch and let them air dry on an old towel.

Step 3: Iron

You may notice that the snowflakes look a bit crumpled after being starched. Once they are dry, iron them flat. I used a medium-high setting on my iron. (Tip: Be careful not to accidentally fold over a piece and iron it down. I almost did this a lot.)

And here is the finished product!

At this point, you are free to put them wherever you like--on a window, the inside of a vase, taped on a package, under a clear glass cookie or pie plate. Wherever your imagination leads you!

I chose to tape mine to the wall.

I find it very fun and festive. And it's fascinating to me to see how many different patterns I can come up with!

Have you been channeling your inner kindergartner lately? Are you gearing up for some winter festivities? Have any Christmas decorating plans in the works?