pom pom coffee filter garland & a celebration!!!

Yesterday we honored our dear friend Megan and her baby-girl-to-be with delicious food, many drinks, sweets, love, and laughter all wrapped up within a fun and festive pom pom garland.

I've always wanted to make this coffee filter garland and when I found out that Megan's baby shower was a lady collaboration, I quickly volunteered myself to be part of the decoration committee.

Pom Pom Coffee Filter Garland

*The more coffee filters you dye, the more you make. Get the picture?*

SUPPLIES

200 - 600 coffee filters 

food coloring

gardener's twine

a stapler & scissors

Roughly pull apart stacks of 20 filters and set aside. ***No need to separate them individually, just in rough stacks of 20.*** Place a large measuring cup or bowl in the bottom of your sink, fill 1/3 of the way (or less) with water and add a few drops of food coloring to create your favorite color.

Gently place your stack of 20 filters down into the colored water. Once the filter has absorbed the color, remove it and quickly wring out the colored water. To make a two-toned or tie-dye effect, soak the bottom of the filters, remove it from the colored water and set aside in your sink. Quickly add a few drops of food coloring to your existing color to create another color. Red + Blue = Purple. Dip the edges into your new color and hang to dry.

Continue dying your filters and hang them over hangers to dry overnight. ***Only 200 filters are shown here. I dyed 600.***

Once your filters have dried completely, start separating them individually.

15 filters make nice and fluffy pom poms but  20 filters make them even better and fluffier!!! You can colorize your stacks monochromatically or shake it up and mix up your colors.

Take your gardener's twine and tie a simple knot; leaving enough excess for hanging.

Separate your stack of 15/20 in half and using your stapler, staple the knot of twine on the bottom half of your stack.

 

Replace the other half of your filters on top of your stapled knot and carefully staple the whole thing together.

You can make a long garland with many pom poms or hang vertically with just a couple.

To connect your pom poms together and make a long garland, you'll need to tie another knot of gardner's twine after you've stapled your first stack. The closer the knot, the closer the pom poms. You can decide how far apart you want them.

Continue with your stacks, stapling and knotting. Make sure to leave some long ends for hanging the garland.

After all of your stacks have been stapled, it's time to cut and fluff. Start by cutting each of your stacks with scissors.

Carefully make cuts starting at the outer edges cutting inward. Leave about a 1 - 2-inches in the middle. Try not to cut your twine.

Time to scrunch & fluff!!! Scrunch the ends of the pom pom with your hands. ***I also like scrunching each layer to make them even fluffier!!!***

It also helps by giving them a nice shake too!!!

Voila!!! 

Baby Elka we can hardly wait to meet you!!!