How To Make A Ribbon Bow The Easy Way

This post should really be titled- How to make the easiest ribbon bow ever and have it come out perfectly every time you make one, but that was too long.  In my quest to keep my holiday decorating simple this year, I opted for a few pops of festive color strategically placed to deck my halls.   This bow is one of those “pops” and is truly very easy- just cut and staple.

I have made 100’s of these bows production-line style when I worked in retail display.   I call this one -the BonTon bow.  It is the style bow I had to make every Christmas when I worked there. There is also a Macy’s bow that I have made 100′s of also.

This bow is stapled together with the variation of tying when you are using soft ribbon. The stiffer the ribbon the more poufy the bow will be. I used satin ribbon so the loops softly fall to the sides of the bow. This mirror hangs in my foyer. It is just two old window sashes one hung above the other and a piece of decorative molding on the top.  I replaced  the glass with mirror panes.

I looped ribbon around one of the snowflakes I bought at US Toys to use as place mats for my holiday table setting, and wired it to the back of the knot on the bow to attach.  I used a dot of hot glue on the back of the bow to attach it to the mirror.

Supplies Needed:

1.  Fold loop section in half.

2. Fold over again as shown and staple in the center to create the loops for the bow.

3. It should look like this. Set aside.

4. Find the center of the tail section, fold over and staple.

5. Making sure right sides of ribbon are facing front.  Match up the staples on the tail and loop sections and staple them together.

It will look like this.

6.   Lay the knot section underneath and fold one edge over.

7.  Tuck the raw edge under the folded edge, overlap to fit snugly and staple twice.   If you have one of those little staplers – you can slide the stapler right in between the knot section and the loop and tail section so the staple will lay flat.  I rummaged through all my junk drawers and could not find one, so I had to staple on the outer edge of the ribbon because the bottom section of the stapler would not wedge under the ribbon. It works, but the ribbon edges are raised up when they should be overlapping and then stapled.

Fluff the loops with your fingers.  All done!  This ribbon is 2 1/2 inches wide and the knot comes out a bit too wide for my liking. I use a variation to attach the knot section – next photo.

When using wide ribbon, I prefer to tie the ribbon around the loop and tail sections so the knot gets more “scrunched”. I used a 7” piece of ribbon and simply tie it around the center of the loop and tail section and make a double knot.

Trim the excess and hot glue each end down on the back of the knot so they stay flat.

A “Scrunchier” – knot.

8. Cut the tails. I prefer a simple angle cut.

Hang.    One dot of hot glue on a sealed or slick non-porous surface will come right off without damaging the surface. If you prefer you can hang the bow with wire.  Thread a piece of florist wire through the back of the knot , wrap around and twist to secure.  Use the ends of the wire to tie your bow on to any object.

You can make the bow any size. They also look nice on gift boxes.

No, I did not Photoshop Trax in the photo.   He just had to make sure you knew he helped in the making of this bow.

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Tagged as: Bow making, Christmas Decorating Ideas, decorating with ribbon, ideas for Chriatmas, Ribbon crafts