Happy Thanksgiving Week! I’ll be sharing tons of deals and reviews on here all week for Black Friday, but first wanted to post a quick tutorial per popular request. This year, with Nori’s things slowly but surely taking over our entire condo, we opted for a smaller, slim cut Christmas tree great for city spaces. As for decor, I decided to go glam on top with green velvet bows and pearl ornaments, and toddler-friendly down low with a couple of stuffed unicorns and llamas (which she’s currently obsessed with!). I ran out of velvet ribbon so sprinkled in a few buffalo check bows and loved the mix. For those who prefer a video tutorial, see my IG Reel tutorial.
If you’re feeling bow envy from all the perfectly fluffed bows this season, you’ll be surprised at how easy these are to make. After some trial and error, I found two foolproof ways and am sharing tutorials for both styles below! In addition to dressing up your tree, these are perfect adorning a wreath or Christmas stockings, along a garland, or on top of presents. I also uploaded a step by step on my Instagram stories since it might be easier to see in video form!
1. Double Loop Bow tutorial
Materials
- Wired ribbon of your choice (very important to use wired!). I needed 10 yards total to make 5 bows.
- A book based on the size of your desired bow (I used one that’s 8 inches wide)
- String
- Scissors
How-To
- Piece A – the ears of the bow: Measure out a piece of ribbon by wrapping it twice around a book, and cut about an inch past the center. For each piece of wired ribbon you cut, make sure to fold the wires underneath so they aren’t poking out.
- Slide the ribbon off of the book while still keeping it folded. I found it helpful to keep my thumb in place in the middle.
- Cut a piece of string a couple of inches long and tie it tightly around Piece A in a double knot. Trim the ends of the string after tying.
- Piece B – the center of the bow: Cut a shorter piece of ribbon about the same length as your hand. Fold the ribbon in half hot dog-style if you’d like a narrower center piece. Place this piece underneath Piece A.
- Piece C – the tails of the bow: Cut a longer piece of ribbon at about arm’s length, longer or shorter based on how you want the tails to look. Bend it into an upside down V shape, and place it (velvet side facing down) on top. After taking these photos I started tying my string around both Pieces A and C (instead of just Piece A) to make the whole bow more secure.
- Wrap the ends of Piece B around the center to secure the bow and tail together, and twist the ends like a twist tie.
- Flip the bow over and gently pull apart the bow ears and shape them to be more full using your hands (sometimes I use a wooden rod / kitchen tool to help fluff!) Voila!
2. Single Loop Bow
How To
- Unlike the first bow style, this option uses one long piece of ribbon for both the bow and tails. I started by making one “bunny ear,” pinched it with my fingers, and made another one.
- Similar to the double loop bow tutorial, cut a piece of string and tie it tightly in a double knot around the center of the ribbon.
- Cut a small piece of ribbon about the length of your palm and use it as the bow center to conceal the string.
