Friday, January 3, 2014

Coffee Filter Snowman


snowman
I’ve seen a lot of coffee filter wreaths in blog world, and always love them.  They are so full and fluffy.  I thought they looked hard and time consuming, but the more I saw them, the more I really wanted to try using coffee filters on a project.  My version uses 2 embroidery hoops in two different sizes.  I found mine at a thrift store for a couple of bucks each.  The first thing I did was opened the hoops and put a paper grocery bag (cut open) inside.  Then I trimmed the paper to fit the hoop with an exacto knife.  This gave me a good flat surface to work with.

embroidery hoop

Then using the coffee filters, I opened them up, one at a time, and pinched the filter in the middle of the circle and twisted.  This formed a flower sort of shape.  I then folded down the pinched end and glued that part to the paper with Alenees glue.  Aleene’s is strong enough to hold them in place, so you can continue to add the flowers one at a time.  You continue this process until the form is completely filled.  After it dried I went back and added any additional fill needed, and fluffed up the filters.  Use scissors to even up any high spots.  At this point I used a bit of wire to connect the two hoops. 
The next step was adding some buttons for eyes, nose, mouth and buttons on the body.
snowman3
An old scarf and some sticks from the yard added the finishing touches.   I was surprised how easily it came together.  It really didn’t take that long to fill in the forms.   I didn’t add a hat because I was afraid of the weight on the filters, although I think I am going to add a felt hat.  I don’t think that will weigh it down, but I need to figure out how to make it stand up from the back.  Some trial and error and I’m sure I can figure it out. 

I think he’s pretty cute, and is a decoration I can leave up all winter.  This is a pretty big piece of wall art, since he is about 2  feet high.  He makes a nice statement.  With a foot of snow in the forecast for this weekend, I can probably build a real snowman soon!   

snowman2
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