Cut up a coffee filter & create a pretty spring DIY

Spring is a beautiful season to upgrade your interior décor and bring inspiration from the blossoming outdoors inside. This charming DIY mobile crafted with coffee filters celebrates the butterflies of spring with ease. Ideal for a child’s bedroom but just as well-suited for a living space, this mobile is simple to make and doesn’t require a long list of materials.

Unbleached coffee filters work well to create delicate butterfly wings for this mobile. Although they are slightly transparent, allowing some light to filter through once you've hung the mobile, the brown hue of these coffee filters incorporates the earth-tone color palette that makes this a versatile accessory. The coffee filters hang from a central hoop to sway in a way that evokes an authentic outdoor spring scene.

Materials
- 14 unbleached coffee filters
- Scissors
- Twine
- Needle
- Silver craft wire, 22-gauge
- Wire cutters
- Pliers
- Hot glue gun
- Wooden craft hoop, 12 inches in diameter
- Lace ribbon, 1 inch wide

1. Fold a stack of two unbleached coffee filters in half.

2. Cut a half-circle from one edge of the fold line to the other following the bottom of the filter ridges as a guide.

3. Unfold the half-circle into a full circle, and trim the edges to even out the shape.

4. Separate the filters so there are two full circles. Set one circle to the side.

5. Beginning at the bottom of one of the circles, fold up the filter about 1/4 inch. Flip over the circle and make a similar fold. Continue until the circle is folded like an accordian, and repeat this process with the second circle.

6. Unravel a length of twine, and cut it from the spool.

7. Thread one end of the yarn through a needle, and tie the opposite end into a very small knot. Trim excess yarn above the knot.

8. Stack the two accordion-folded filter circles on top of one another horizontally, and thread the needle through the center of the stack.

9. Pull the yarn through the filters until the knot reaches the material.

10. Cut about 5 inches of 22-gauge silver craft wire from the spool, and fold it in half around the center of the filter directly over the yarn knot.

11. Twist the wire around itself several times, so two wire ends stick up and away from the filter.

12. Spiral the ends of the wire into antenna using pliers.

13. Separate the filter accordion folds into butterfly wings.

14. Apply a spot of hot glue underneath one of the bottom wings near the wire. Press the opposite side's bottom wing to the glue to secure the two halves.

15. Using a square knot, tie the opposite end of the length of yarn around the wooden craft hoop so the butterfly hang below the hoop. Trim excess yarn at the knot.

16. Repeat steps 1 to 15 with six additional stacks of two unbleached coffee filters to create a mobile with seven hanging butterflies. Varying the size of the coffee filter circle will ensure the final design includes butterflies of different dimensions.

17. Apply hot glue to the exterior of the wooden craft hoop once you've attached all the butterflies, and press a length of 1-inch lace ribbon to the glue.

18. Continue gluing the lace in place around the entire circumference of the hoop, and trim away excess material where the ends meet.

19. Unravel a length of twine that's wider than the hoop, and cut it from the spool.

20. Knot one end of the yarn around the left side of the hoop, and knot the opposite end around the right side of the hoop to create a hanging attachment.