Favor Pockets

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I'm addicted to tea-stained everything. Well, everything that has to do with crafts. The tea-stained bath robe....not so much. Tea staining is quick, cheap, easy; and it provides a vintage element to any craft. These little pockets are made from tea-stained coffee filters. I know the picture doesn't show the staining effect very well, but trust me on this one. They've seen tea.

To stain standard white coffee filters, simply soak them for 3-4 minutes in hot tea. I make the tea in a 2 quart pan and do dozens of filters at once. The longer you soak 'em, the darker they get. Then just dip them out, squeeze out as much of the tea as you can, and lay them flat on an old towel to dry. Iron them when they're dry. They'll still have that old, rumpled look. If it's not rumpled enough for you, wad them into a ball and iron them lightly again. (I always put an old towel on my ironing board so that I don't transfer any tea to my husband's shirts!)

So now you have a stack of stained paper circles.

Take one and fold in the sides until it resembles something like a triangle.

Now take another circle and place it under the triangle. Follow the same fold lines and wrap the bottom one around the top.

The double thickness adds body to the project, and it adds the strength it needs to hold the goodies.

Using Aleen's Tacky Glue (I love this stuff!), secure the folded flaps to each other. Be careful not to glue them to the back of your project. Do not use hot glue for this step. It is not at all forgiving.

Now you can embellish your pocket with whatever you have on hand. I started snipping away at a silk flower, removing some of the petals at the base. Using hot glue (yes, you can use it for this step) I adhered the petals at an angle right where the two flaps meet.

I finished it off with a raffia spray at the base of the petals.

You can add a handle to your pocket by hot gluing the ends of a ribbon, twine, raffia, or whatever you choose between the two layers on each side of the pocket.

The lighting in this picture casts a pinkish glow to the otherwise brown pockets. I kinda like it. Maybe the next batch will be pink. You can dye coffee filters any color you wish using warm water and food coloring. You can also borrow your son's watercolors and go crazy with those.

Don't forget to say Ta Da! when you're finished. If you're making these for Valentine's Day, send me some pictures. I'd love to see what you chose to use for embellishing your pockets!