Soak coffee filter in tea mixture and create the best spring DIY yet

Those who love living topiaries are intrigued by the whimsical shapes and designs made from simple plants and shrubs. This creative art abounds with contrasting textures and colors. If you're a topiary fan but don't want the trouble of maintaining a live plant, consider this charming DIY topiary that uses coffee filters for a unique spring decoration that doesn’t require watering.

Tea bags, coffee filters and a foam ball form the foundation of this easy-to-make topiary. Simply soak coffee filters in dark tea for an eye-catching hue, then dry and shape them into a floral design. Glue the flowers to a dowel and set them in place with stones placed inside a pail. Your stylish new topiary will add a touch of whimsy to an end table or will work as a centerpiece for a spring gathering of friends.

Materials
- 16 coffee filters
- Large cooking pot
- 2 teabags of black or dark tea
- Several cups of boiling water
- Spoon
- Protective place mat
- Hair dryer
- Medium foam ball, about the size of a baseball
- Hot glue gun and glue stick
- Wooden dowel rod about 12 inches long
- Small gardening pail
- Enough stones to fill the pail to the top

Instructions
 
1. Separate 16 coffee filters.

2. Put a large cooking pot on a flat work surface.

3. Place two bags of black tea into the cooking pot. Add an additional bag if you want the color to be even darker.

4. Fill the pot with several cups of hot or boiling water.

5. Place a single coffee filter on the surface of the water, and press it into the tea using a spoon. Continue this step until all of the coffee filters are submerged.

6. Allow the coffee filters to steep for 15-20 minutes.

7. Pull a coffee filter from the water with a spoon, and place it flat on a protective place mat.

8. Dry the coffee filter with a hair dryer. Repeat this step with the remaining coffee filters.

9. Pinch a single dry coffee filter together at its center, and press the edges up to meet.

10. Apply a spot of hot glue to a foam ball, and press the pinched end of the coffee filter to the glue to secure it, with the remaining edges extending outward.

11. Continue to attach pinched coffee filters to the foam ball side-by-side until they cover the entire ball.

12. Cover the end of a wooden dowel rod with hot glue, and attach it to the foam ball.

13. Fill the bottom of a small gardening pail with stones, leaving a hole in the center.

14. Place the end of the dowel rod without the topiary into the center of the stones once they reach halfway up the pail, and center it.

15. Continue filling the pail with stones around the dowel rod to keep it in place.