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Welcome! This is the place where I share my artsy and crafty projects. I am an evolving artist these days ... finding myself enjoying less of the cards and mini albums that I have made for years, and turning to art journaling and more artistic endeavors. I have always enjoyed some craft or other, and some of my earliest memories of my mother helping me make paper dolls and other crafts. I am now in my 60's and finding myself more passionately enjoying creating beautiful things and learning new skills and techniques and products.

While you are here I hope you will find inspiration and ideas for making your own projects, however any images or projects you find here are my personal property and should not be used for your own monetary gain, or for contests or challenges. Thank You!

2/26/2009

How to: Making Perfectly Perfect Small Bows

September, 2010 ~ UPDATE!  As I keep track of visitors to my blog, I find there is a large number of people who find this post by googling (or using some search engine) to find instructions on making small bows.  I would truly appreciate it if you would leave me a comment and let me know whether or not you find this post helpful and why.  I truly appreciate your visiting, come back soon, Becky

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I have been making greeting cards for years. In fact my first cards were quite crudely made using clipart images and printed on my very first clunky old PC and printer more than ten years ago. But it's only been in the last year or so that I've become pretty much obsessed with making pretty greeting cards for family and friends. Of course the home computers and crafty products available have come a long way since then, too!

On February 14, 2008 (yes, Valentines day) I was home alone, worrying about my husband who was out of state dealing with his sister's illness and eventual death - alone - or at least without me! That day I stumbled across the wonderland called Scrapbook.com, and fell in love! I found out there were other crazies like me who were addicted to papercrafting and the products you used to make those crafts. As I began posting pictures of my cards, a common theme seemed to arise . . . "How do you make your beautiful small bows???"

Like many of you I always had trouble making pretty small bows for cards and other craft projects. Then one day I developed this simple method using templates, and haven't looked back. I posted these instructions on my 'blog' on Scrapbook.com on February 23, 2008, and hope you find them helpful.


Step One - The Templates



As you can see, I make them from whatever I have handy! One is from the back of an old card someone sent me, another is from a cracker box, and yet another is made from a Kleenex box. I write BACK on one side of each one, and that reminds me to work from that side so the bow is pretty.

Step 2 - Wrapping the Ribbon


I wrap the ribbon of choice onto the top part of the template. I usually do either 1, 3 or 5 times, because odd #'s somehow look prettier. When I finish wrapping, I drop the tiniest of drops of glue (I prefer FabricTac) on the center so that the end of the ribbon is stationary, then cut the bow away from the ribbon card.
Step 3 - Tying the Ribbon

Here I cut a length of ribbon, slide the base of the bow down to the bottom of the template, and tie a single knot. Then I put one more tiny drop of glue, tie one more single knot, and arrange the tails the way I want them.
Step 4 - Nice and Straight

As soon as I put on that last drop of glue, I straighten the tails, and tuck them under the ends of the template and let them dry straight. Usually I cut the angles in the tails while it's in this position - I find it's easier this way.
Step 5 - The Finished Product

After that last drop of glue has dried, I slide the bow off the template, fluff the layers of the bow, and it's ready to be added to my card or whatever project I'm working on.
Once again, Ihope you find this easy tutorial helpful. If you do, or if you don't, please leave me a comment and let me know! Thank you for visiting today, and may you have a joyful day! Becky

22 comments:

K-Sue said...

I like this method - looks like it could work for me. Thank you.

Unknown said...

I have never been able to tie a pretty bow. I can't wait to try this out. Thanks for sharing.

Paulien van den Bosch said...

Oh wow... looking awesome!!!!
TFS this great tip!

English Cottage in Georgia said...

Oh my, I just might be able to do this...Hoorah. Thanks so much :-)

karlascottage.typepad.com said...

I had no idea how to make bows, thanks!!

Suz said...

What a great tip thanks so much!

Hope your dad is doing better -take care of yourself you're in our prayers

Lori E said...

Brilliant. Now why didn't I think of that? I do know that if I tie my regular shoelace type bows upside down ie. with the tails facing down and not towards my face they lie down better. I know you probably can't picture this but I can't explain it better.

Anonymous said...

Hi Becky! What a wonderful idea to use a template for the bows! I will try that, thanks for the brilliant idea!
Hope that your father is doing better now!
Hugs from Suss at sb.com :-)

Carole Beath said...

What a great tute on tying a pretty bow. It was only about 2 years ago that I learned the right way. Makes all the difference in how the bow sits for sure. I had to chuckle when you told us about your greeting cards of yesteryear because I too did the same thing. I hand drew, I created images on my old old Mac and printed them off, I added foils and pearls...and I thought they were so wonderful. I found one of those old old 1990 cards a while back and boy did I shudder. Ha ha ha.
Hugs
Carole

Anonymous said...

Found you by way of Google...

I am looking for small bow ideas to make a tree topper for a small Christmas tree. Your bow might not be exactly what I need for the tree, but I like the method and can surely use it to make pretty bows for small presents.

Marcia said...

Great Tutorial...love using the template method...thst way my big fingers aren't in the way! lol If I want to make a fluffier bow I just add more rounds...you're a genius!! Many thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for sharing. I love your website!!! The mini bow tutorial was great. I will certainly try it. ~Jannie in Houston

The EmBellished Card - Belinda said...

Thank you for this tutorial. I have been looking at tools for tying ribbons, but this seems to be the best of all. No out of pocket expense with chipboard.
Blessings,
RecipeScrapper

Auntie Reg said...

Hi, I think your instructions are very easy to understand. Just what I was looking for. Litte Bows~ found you through Google search for how to make small bow. Thanks soooo much!

Chrissie from Scotland said...

I found you by searching Google for How To Tie A Small Bow. Your instructions are very clear and easy to follow. Thank you so much for sharing

SusanLotus said...

Great tutorial!

Crafty Christina said...

Hi, found you through Google will defo give it a go Thank you :)

Unknown said...

Yes, I found you through Google, but I love your method. I am making tiny bows, but never thought of a template! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I found you through Google too and love this idea. I'll definitely be trying it for my cards.

Eva said...

Hi from NZ. Found your blog from google images. I saw a ribbon template similar to yours on sale at a craft store and they were selling it for NZ$15. I didn't buy it but I did wonder how it was used and then I saw your tutorial. Thanks for the great tip.

SophieNewton said...

Hello from England! I found your tutorial through Google, fantastic idea, thank you. I will be using this on my Christmas cards.

Rebeca said...

Hi, thank you so much for you small bows tutorial. I used it to decorate many things for my friend's wedding in Rome, Italy.
Also, this Christmas I made little silver bows to place them on my Christmas tree.
And now I am using them for my friend's wedding album. Little bows are wonderful!