Upcycled Coffee Art

I have an unexpected upcycle I came across awhile ago and I need to share this with you all. Thanks to Mr. Sustainably Amber for half of this idea by the way. He put the coffee filter (with coffee grounds) into a small bowl and placed it in the fridge to use that as an air freshener for the fridge. Brilliant idea! After a day the coffee grounds absorb any lingering odors in the fridge. I like to use bamboo coffee filters from Melitta. But I’m sure any similar coffee filter would work here.

However once the coffee grounds and filter dried out in the fridge I realized it left this beautiful work of art around the filter. This was when I knew I had to make this into a fun upcycle.  It requires so little time and you’ll get a unique design every single time. It’s a fun 2 into 1 upcycle that requires very little effort.

 Quick directions:

1. Add wet filter (with coffee grounds) into a small bowl and place into the fridge

2. After a day (or until you feel the filter has dried out) take out of the fridge.

3. Empty coffee grounds into compost. Once it’s completely dry, the majority of the coffee grounds will not stick to the filter. I find it was normal to have a little left. For any left over grounds take a brush or rag and wipe them off.

4. Open coffee filter at seem so it lays flat. You can also use your brush or rag to take off any additional coffee grounds at this point.

5. If the filter is still a little damp, leave it on the counter to completely dry.

Ok but where is the upcycle art part you are wondering, right?!  Well the coffee filters each have their own designs and with some scissors and a fun imagination the ideas are endless. Below are some ideas I came up with.

Small kids notebook

Art work. I like how this one even looks like a map.

Greeting card

Gift tag

Eco confetti

Plus each one still leaves the slight aroma of coffee ☕️  I love how some of them even look like a map or mountains.  If you are a drawer I would imagine some fun, interesting art work on the filters – especially the ones that resemble maps or mountains. 

There are probably so many other ideas. You can honestly make anything that you would use with paper as well; it’s a similar texture to work with. Feel free to leave a comment if you can think of any more ideas.

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