by Heidi Ott, CraftersCommunity.com

Make a beautiful flower bouquet. These flowers are quick, easy, inexpensive and fun for all ages. Use your imagination to come up with your own varieties!

For each flower you will need:

2 basket style drip coffee filters
Food coloring (2 colors)
Wooden skewer
Green construction paper
Clear tape
White glue
Green paint or marker

Instructions:

Take 2 small bowls and place 2-3 tablespoons of water in each. Add 3-4 drops of food coloring (color 1) to one dish and 3-4 drops of food coloring (color 2) to the second dish. Scrunch the coffee filters up and place one in each dish so they are covered with the water. You can remove the filters right away for a light color or leave them in for a while for a darker color. Remove the coffee filters when ready and squeeze the excess coloring out over a sink. Lay the filters flat to dry on a paper towel.

When the filters are dry, take the center color and fold it in half to make a half circle. Fold again to make a quarter pie shape. Fold twice more so you have a narrow wedge. Cut a curve around the wedge 1/2 inch from the wide end.
Repeat with the outer color except cut the curve right at the wide edge. This will give you large flower shape and a smaller flower shape.

Paint the skewer green and let dry.

Center the small flower shape over the large flower shape. Poke the skewer through the center of the circles and slide the skewer all the way through leaving 1/2 inch in the flower. Twist the bottom 1/2 inch of the flower around the skewer and tape with clear tape to hold tight. Push the petals down adjusting them until you are happy with the way they look.

Cut several leaves from the green construction paper and glue to the stem.

About the Author
Heidi Ott is the creative and crafty designer and owner of CraftersCommunity.com