Coffee Filter Watercolor Rainbows

It’s the time of year for lots and lots of colorful rainbows. And you can bring in even more color when you make lots of your own colorful Coffee Filter Watercolor Rainbows!

These Coffee Filter Watercolor Rainbows are such a fun, simple art project that’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or to see you through spring. I love the way the watercolors bleed through the coffee filter, letting the colors easily blend together into a piece of rainbow art that’s each unique. You can also add puffy cotton balls to the ends of the rainbow, for a more in the clouds kind of effect.

I’ve seen a number of different watercolor rainbow projects that use watered sharpies instead of paints. That’s another neat technique. We like using watercolor paints, though, and watching the colors blend however they may. The rest the supplies include coffee filters, scissors, as well as a protective covering for the surface you’re painting on and where you can store your coffee filters to dry.

Coffee Filter Watercolor Rainbows

Supplies needed:

Watercolor paints
Paintbrush and cup of water
Plastic tablecloth or paper to cover table
White coffee filters
Scissors
Puffy cotton balls (optional)
Glue (optional)

Begin by getting your watercolors ready. You’ll need to lay a plastic tablecloth or thick sheets of paper across where you’re painting to protect the surface. You’ll also need a place to store coffee filters while they dry. Make sure you have a cup of water and paintbrush. Maybe smocks, too.

Flatten a regular white coffee filter. If you look closely, you’ll see a center circle on the inside of the coffee filter where it folds up. We started painting our rainbow on this circle, starting in backwards order of colors with purple first, going towards the edge. Leave some of the center white.

The backwards rainbow: Purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. Keep painting each color in a circle around the coffee filter until your rainbow is complete. Set aside to dry.