DIY Coffee Filter Gift Bow

This week we had a baby shower for a co-worker, and I wanted to coordinate my gift packaging with the decor which was kind of pastel and vintage-y. I got some mint & white striped wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby (using a 40% off coupon of course). The paper doesn't have a message so it can also be used for birthdays, weddings, etc... I'm all about versatility!

To dress up the gift, I sought inspiration from my recent coffee filter floral wreath project. Now that I'd been enlightened to the crafty potential of coffee filters, I figured there had to be a way to make some sort of bow with them.  And as it turns out there was--except I don't have a step-by-step tutorial for it since I was experimenting on the fly. 

Basically I just folded several coffee filters into halves (twice), then bunched them together, and tied some jute around the bunched-up bottoms very tightly. (So technical, right?) Then I scrounged around my craft stash for some scraps of lace and wrapped this around to cover the jute. Add just a dab of hot glue to secure the lace.

To give the gift more of a rustic feel, I used jute instead of regular ribbon, and then tied the coffee filter bow into the middle. For as randomly as it was constructed, I was pretty happy with the final outcome. It's more like a flower/bow combo, really.

And bonus, the bow didn't fall apart when the guest-of-honor unwrapped the box, which I was a little afraid might happen. So I must have done something right.

This pretty packaging would also work great for a bridal shower or wedding gift. If you're the slightest bit crafty, you can easily make your own bow just like this (or probably better)!  And coffee filters are stupid cheap -- like 100 for $1 -- so it's a very cost-effective method too.

Have you ever created your own gift bows?