The Dusty Victorian

After Countess Papera Ephemera made her appearance this Halloween, I was given by friends and family several bags of unused coffee filters. Like me, they had changed coffee makers and had leftover filters. So here is my Christmas wreath for 2012.

If you don't have the time to make your own wreath or if you're not particularly crafty, you can find on Etsy, numerous examples of beautiful wreath or door ornaments made of recycled material. Below are a few of my favorite ones.

This very elegant wreath, found at TheSalvagedWhimsy is made of old book pages and coffee filters.

This very festive one is found at Regrooved and is made of the glossy pages of books or magazines. Very much like fireworks, particularly appropriate for New Years.

This tiny one is made of recycled pieces of wool. So cute. You will find it at AliciaTod.

Made out of recycled road maps, this soft looking one can be found at Weird Little World.

This very romantic one is found at Perennial Parchment.

It's again the time of the year when my friend the Countess comes for a visit and orders a new dress. For a change, she thought it would be fun to wear something from the late 19th century to fit in with The Dusty Victorian's surroundings.

Her dress is made of different types of paper products that I had already at home: brown craft paper for the skirt, white textured wall paper found in the attic for the bodice, coffee filters for the frills, and cardboard for the bustle support. Cardboard was also used for the hat, along with paper tape for ribbon details. I used different types of glues, including a glue stick, white glue, spray glue and packing tape. Only the belt and gloves are made of fabric and are from my own wardrobe. I would say that at least 95% of this project is made of products that can be recycled or reused.

To know more about the Countess Papera Ephemera you can go here. You can see her stepping out for last year's Halloween here.

The bustle gives the Victorian dress its signature shape.

I had just bought a new bag of coffee filters when our coffee maker gave up the ghost.
We now use a French press so those filters have been put to a different use.