50s Housewife Bridal Shower Part 1: Coffee Filter Wreath

My little sister is getting married! To say that we're all excited for her (and her fiancee) would be a huge understatement. This past weekend we held a 50s Housewife themed bridal shower for her to help them get their new home off to a good start. My mom did the food, the matron of honor tackled the guest list/rsvps and the cupcakes, and I did the decor. One of the first projects I decided to do was a coffee filter wreath with tissue paper roses inspired by tipjunkie.
I'll spare you the in-depth tutorial because there are so many out there in blog land already (I liked this one.) but I'll give you a few tips and share the details about my wreaths.
I started with a round styrofoam base that I got at a local shop called, The Creative Reuse Store. It's a non-profit where folks can donate old craft supplies that are then sold. They had 2 styrofoam 'donuts' there for $0.40 each.

I bought a mega pack of white coffee filters at the store and just hot-glued them on the wreath. To save myself from too many hot glue burns, I took the filter, stuck a sharpie marker in the center and kind of squished the filter around it. Then I swirled some hot glue on the point of the filter and stuck it to the wreath. Hint #1: You have to hold it on the wreath for a few seconds to be sure it sticks.
Then I just kept adding filter after filter until it was full and fluffy. (It's so fluffy!!)
Hint #2: Do not despair when you are 1/4 or 1/2 way done. It will look bad and you will wonder what the problem is. After you get about 7/8 done, it'll start to look good. :)
Hint #3: When you get done, go back and fluff and stuff and add more to really make it full.

After it was all done, I made some tissue paper roses to add color. I went with orange/pink to represent coral and blue since coral and blue are the wedding colors. Again, there are a million tutorials out there. Here's the great site I used for directions: jonesdesigncompany.com.
Using tissue paper, I found that you couldn't roll the spiral super tight because the tissue paper wouldn't open up enough at the end. For a looser flower when using tissue paper, roll it a little looser throughout.
Anyway, the end results turned out super cute!
I made 3 wreaths: 1 for the old window above the dessert buffet and 1 for each side of the front door.

Best part.... my sister-in-law took one for her house, and I have one hanging in my craft room. That leaves one for future decorating possibilities!

Stay tuned: more bridal shower projects and pics to come!

Linking up to these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming;
Monday: Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle;
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons; Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia; Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife;
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; It's Overflowing at Overflowing with Creativity; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts;
Home Decor & Organizing at Organize and Decorate Everything;
Thursday: Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order; Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty and Fabuless;  Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring;