Handmade Christmas Bow Using Ribbon

Given the choice between old-fashioned store-bought bows and a beautiful bow made by hand, a handcrafted bow wins every time.  Today I’m sharing an easy project that takes a classic multi-point bow up a notch using ribbon from The Ribbon Roll. 

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS BOW MADE WITH RIBBON

Supply List:

7/8”  Christmas Stripes Wired Edge

1 3/8” Velvet Merrowed Wired Edge Ribbon

Hot Glue Gun and Glue

White Cardstock

Directions:

Step 1: Cut (4) 10″ strips, (4) 9″ strips and (1) 3 1/2” strip of your ribbon. Using two different lengths of ribbon will make the top layer of the bow a little smaller than the bottom layer.

Step 2: Take one of the longest ribbon pieces and loop the right side around to the center and glue the end in place.  Loop the other end of the ribbon in the same manner and glue the end in place.

Step 3: Repeat the same steps will all the ribbon pieces except the shortest 3 1/2″ long piece.

Step 5: You are now going to layer and glue the looped pieces together.  Take one of the longer looped pieces and place a  dot of glue in the center where the ribbon ends meet.  Place the second large loop piece on top of the glue with the points going in a different direction.

Step 7: Continue gluing each set of loops onto the center of the bow, working from the largest loops up to the smaller loops. Each time you layer a piece of ribbon, make sure the pointed end are pointing in a different direction.

Step 8: After all the lopped pieces are layered, add the center loop. Form a circle with the 3 1/2″ L piece of ribbon, overlapping the ends and glue them together.   Glue the circle piece in the center of your bow.

Step 9:  Cut a 1.75″ circle out of the cardstock and glue it to the back of the bow. This creates a solid base to attach the bow to a gift.

note:  Since the velvet ribbon is wider than the stripe, I was able to make it using only the 4 longer strips of ribbon plus the center loop. 

HANDMADE RIBBON BOWS

tip:  You can use a variety of ribbon styles to make these classic bows including both wired edge and non-wired edge.  If you want to make a much larger bow, use ribbon 1 1/2” or wider and cut your strips longer.

Here are my favorite Ribbon Roll Christmas ribbons for this project:

• 2 1/2” Christmas Ornaments Ribbon
• 7/8” Cheerful Plaid Wired Edge Ribbon
• 1 1/2” Linen Candy Stripe Wired Edge Ribbon
• 7/8”  Herringbone Candy Cane Ribbon
• My favorite Everyday ribbon for this project:
• 2 1/2” Mauve Velvet Merrowed Wired Edge Ribbon
• 1 1/2” Grosgrain Charm Ribbon
• 1 1/2” Cabana Stripes Wired Edge Ribbon
• Dupioni Silk Ribbon

I hope you enjoyed this ribbon craft.  Be sure to hop over to The Ribbon Roll to check out all of the amazing ribbons they sell.  You’ll also find other ribbon craft projects on their blog.