Bows can get tricky sometimes, especially when they don’t lay the way you want them to or they just end up looking like a tied up shoelace! This “cheat bow” is perfect if you need a simple decoration for a vase, shoe, scrapbook, or anything else you’d like to ‘cuteify’.
What you’ll need:
- Ribbon of your choice (can be any color and width)
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
- Ruler
Step 1: Figure out how large you’ll want your bow. Cut your piece of ribbon a little more than double your desired length. Fold the piece of ribbon exactly in half to create a crease. Unfold the ribbon and then put a strip of hot glue along the crease of the ribbon. Attach one end of the ribbon to the strip of glue. Then repeat for the other end of the ribbon, making sure both ends are secure.
Step 2: This is where the bow will start to take shape. Have your hot glue gun ready and simply pinch the middle of the ribbon. This should create a fold along the width of the ribbon. Depending on the width of your ribbon, you may need to have more folds than a ribbon with a smaller width would. Play around with it until you are happy with the shape of the bow and then secure the folds with hot glue.
Step 3: Once the glue has dried, choose which side will be the front and then flip it over to the back. Cut a small strip of ribbon and glue one end to the back of the bow. Once dry, wrap the strip of ribbon around where we just created the folds. This will hide all the hot glue and make the bow look more polished. After you’ve wrapped up the center of the bow, secure the other end of the ribbon with hot glue on the back of the bow. You may have to cut off excess ribbon, but make sure you can’t see any hot glue or ribbon ends from the front of the bow.
Step 4: Figure out how long you want the ends of the bow (the ribbons that hang down from the actual bow) to be. Cut two pieces of ribbon to the desired length. Next, cut a 45° angle on each end of the bow. However, cut both angles in the same direction, so the ribbon looks like a long trapezoid (still gotta use that third grade geometry!). Align your two pieces of ribbon so that the ends face opposite directions, and slightly overlap the top ends and glue together; once dry, glue to the back of your bow.
Congrats; your bow is complete! Now you can attach it to almost anything to add a little bit of cuteness! I hope you enjoyed this bow tutorial and found it easy to follow. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to comment below. I love hearing your ideas! As always, I’ll see you next week for another #FashionistaFriday!
XOXO,
Crafty Fashionista
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