Put A Bow On IT! Fancy Bow Tutorial!

Ribbon and bows are important elements in the Holiday Decor here at Sweetwater!

I pretty much put a bow on EVERYTHING....and if something comes with a storebought ("gasp!") bow....I probably change it to a homemade bow!

What follows is essentially a repost from last year.
It has tips and a tutorial for making your own gorgeous bows.


I love Costco for lots of things....but I REALLY love their wire edged ribbon!


During every major holiday season they have beautiful wired ribbon at ridiculously cheap prices.
How cheap? $7.99 for 50 yards!
And the patterns are amazing....not always Holiday themed either!

While I was buying mine, I saw a couple buying every spool of one design....they told me it was for their wedding! Very patient groom taking the whole display apart to get enough spools!

I went down to the ribbon stash!
Dug around and found other Costco Ribbons....







I must really love you my bloggy friends, because I am risking having Mr. Sweetwater see how much ribbon I have!
"Really dear...I will use it all someday!"







 People who know me, know that I put bows on everything...


Tooo funny....I was looking for pictures of pretty bows to add to this post and I found this site:
christmastreewreaths
You can buy a a pre-made bow like this for a mere $8.50....or go wild and buy 12 for $102.00!

It always amazes me that people really buy stuff like that....go figure!

Here is mine using the Costco ribbon!

Now....you do the math!
$8.00 for 50 yards of ribbon.....2 yards per bow.....hmmmmmm!

I have put some links to bow making tutorials at the end of the post....






but now you get to see my lame attempt to show you how....
holding the ribbon, the wire, and taking pictures.....now THAT was a trick!

Start by cutting a piece of florist wire about 12 inches long....

If you don't have any paddle wire like this...GET SOME!  NOW1  You will use it and use it and use it!






Leave the ribbon attached to the spool and pull out about a yard.....

If you cut now...you might not have enough for a pretty bow....and besides...if you mess up...
just let go and start again!







Make a loop that is half the size of the bow you want....

pinch it tight....











flip over and make a loop on the other side that is the same size

pinch that tight










Keep going back and forth....
loop, pinch, loop, pinch





This bow has 5 loops on one side and 6 loops on the other.....

I read somewhere that you should always have an odd number of loops....but who's counting? Oh...ME!





Now take the piece of wire and wrap it around the center....whew!  You can let go of the loops now and hold on to the wire.











Twist the wire around about 3 times to get an nice tight center.

NOW....you can cut the bow away from the spool!

Then start pulling the loops up and twisting them into a pretty shaped bow.

The wire in the center lets you have at it without worrying that the bow will come apart.

The wire edge of the ribbon lets you shape the loops.

There you have it! 

Here are the other links I found with much more professional tutorials....take a look!

Better Homes and Gardens Video Tutorial
Directions for lots of fancy bows
Bowmaking...with yardage chart


Hope you give this a try!

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