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September 12, 2013

How To Make A Bow In 5 Easy Steps

I love gift wrapping. I always have. Growing up, I remember asking my mom to let me wrap the gifts for every occasion. For me, it's fun to have an excuse to make something and be able to give it to someone I love. 

Plus, it's a great skill to have as a wife, as Jesse's method of gift wrap for family and friends usually involves a grocery bag. Although, I kinda think that's just as cute. :)











Over the past few years of wedding festivities and baby showers galore, I've figured out a few tricks when it comes to gift wrapping. And one of my favorite tricks is the bow. I have a GIANT spool of white ribbon (originally found during this thrift store adventure for 99 cents. I kid you not.) and I've been using it ever since. It works for just about every gift, whether it's a box or a bag, and it's totally my secret weapon.
Making a bow is really pretty simple, and it's such a great way to make any basic gift wrap extra special.

First, let's take a look at the finished product. I'm going to a friend's bachelorette party soon and we are showering her with some fun girlie gifts. 

I just used a basic black bag and pink heart tissue paper (both from Target, about $2 total). Then, I stenciled her initial on the bag with some gold spray paint, and added a large bow with my white ribbon.




Here's how I made the bow. 
Step 1: Cut 1 large piece of ribbon about 3 feet long. Hold the ribbon about 6 inches in from one end, and make a loop. Hold the ribbon where the loop intersects.



Step 2:  Take the long end of the ribbon, and make another loop up and over the first loop, continuing to hold the ribbon in the center.


Step 3. Make another loop, this time bringing the ribbon up and over the intersection (in the front). Hold in center.


Step 4: Make your last loop, continuing to hold the center.


Step 5: Cut a separate piece of ribbon about 15 inches long. Using one hand to hold the bow together in the center, place the 15 inch piece underneath the bow and tie it around the middle, securing the bow in place.


And there you have it!
 After the bow is tied, I fluff out all of the loops with my hand and make them all pretty again, as they usually get a little smooshed during the process. 

You can also make your bow as big as you want (just by cutting a longer piece of ribbon and making more loops, using the same process). To attach my ribbon to a bag, I tie an extra piece of ribbon on the bag, and then tie that piece around the middle of my completed bow. 


Here are the basic supplies I used for this project.
Ignore the glue gun and flowers...those didn't make the cut.
My apologies to the fake plant I ripped them off of.


I personalized the bag by adding a stenciled 'C', just using a stencil from the craft store and some gold spray paint. 
I taped down the stencil, and covered the rest of the bag with paper. I accidentally smudged my spray paint a bit when I removed my tape. Oh well. Such is life. :)


And that my friends, is how I do gift wrapping! 
Thanks for stopping by today!






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6 comments:

  1. Is there no end to your creativity? I flippin' love your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm terrible at wrapping and now I have this secret.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I found your blog an hour or so ago (been here ever since, haha) & WOW!!! It's AMAZING! I love all your wonderful tips!
    I'm redecorating my room & bought a curtain rod a while back. A black one. Naturally, I have now decided that I want a white one (this sort of thing happens to me all the time, it's sad). So I was considering spray painting it but I was told it wouldn't work well & that the paint would rub off very easily. I did a google search on it & was SO happy to find out that you'd spray painted curtain rods & they'd managed to hold out. Yay!! Needless to say, I will be spray painting mine... & maybe a bunch of other things too. Thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I spray paint EVERYTHING LOL. I'd croak without my glue gun and my cans of spray paint ;)

      Delete
  4. I just made the most beautiful bow from your guide. Wish I could send a pic. Ty!

    ReplyDelete

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