The fall season will always be associated with leaves and pumpkins, in shades of orange, ochre and rust…but perhaps it’s time to embrace some new autumnal motifs! Feathers, not unlike leaves, are delicate and come in every color of rainbow. They are reminiscent of birds flying south for the season and for Thanksgiving turkeys. Here, simple white feathers made from everyday coffee filters provide a blank slate for a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns. Pink, purple, russet orange and lime green. It’s all here! Make them into a garland to hang across a mantel or archway throughout the fall, and perhaps even across your Christmas tree come winter. Feathers add a delicate beauty wherever they go.

Materials
Plain white coffee filters
Pentel Color Pens
Spray bottle filled with water
Scissors
Needle and thread
Paper towels

Step 1
On the top layer of a stack of 3-4 coffee filters, use your Pentel Color Pens to draw shapes. Here we drew a series of spirals, but just about any shape or pattern under the sun will work. Just be sure to stagger your markings all around the surface of the coffee filter.

Step 2
Spray the surface of your coffee filter with water and watch the colors bleed into each other. If you do not see the colors running after 20 seconds or so, add more water. Be sure the water and ink is penetrating the bottom coffee filters as well as the top. Let the coffee filters dry in place overnight, or speed up the process by throwing them in the dryer for a few minutes, or hang over a shower rod for an hour.

Step 3
Again, working in a stack of 3-4 filters, fold in half then fold in half again. Use your scissors to slice a curved feather shape along the curved edge of the coffee filters, adding a small stem at one end. This means each filter will produce four filters.

Step 4
Use your scissors to cut fringes along the edges of the feathers. Keeping them in stacks will speed up this process a great deal.

Step 5
Individually fold each feather down the center and ruffle the fringes a bit. Use a threaded needle to string your feathers in a single line. You will find that the coffee filters are fibrous enough to stay put on the thread, so there is no need to tie any knots. Just get all the feathers on the thread, tape it in place, then spread out the feathers however you like – they’ll stay put. At the end of the season, remove the thread and store the feathers in a small box or bag. Next year you will be ready to roll!

About the Author Peaches is the artist and author behind Aunt Peaches, dubbed “the Citizen Kane of craft blogs” by the Huffington Post. Always on the lookout for clever ideas, Peaches shares creative and inexpensive how-to projects for those who love where they live. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.