How to Make a Bow the Easy Way

Learning how to make a bow is a useful skill for any crafter to have. In addition to their obvious use for decorating gifts, you can use bows to decorate floral wreaths, hand sewn pillows, greeting cards, and scrapbook layouts. You can even attach handmade ribbon bows to inexpensive hair clips to make a cute accessory for a young girl.

To make a simple bow, you'll need some ribbon, a stapler, a pair of scissors, and some glue. You can use any width of ribbon you like, but it's easiest to learn with narrow ribbon. Look for something about a half inch in width.

To make a bow, first cut three lengths of ribbon. Each ribbon should be between 1 and 1 ½ inches longer than the last, depending upon how big you want your bow to be. The longer you cut the ribbon, the longer the bow will be.

Staple each ribbon together to make a loop, overlapping the ends slightly. You'll have three loops of ribbon in graduated sizes when you're done. Turn the loops so the staples are on the bottom and gently use your fingers to press the ribbon into a flattened loop shape.

Stack the ribbon loops with largest on the bottom and the smallest on top. Center the ribbons evenly in the pile, and then staple the entire pile together. You may need to turn the stapler to avoid stapling in the same spot you did before.

Cut a small length of ribbon to wrap over the center staple to hide it from view. The length of this piece will depend on the width of the ribbon you chose for the project. Adhere the ribbon using a hot glue gun or scrapbooking glue dots.

The last step in learning how to make a bow is to cut two small strips of ribbon. Make a notch at one end of each strip. Glue the strips to the back of the bow to make a tail. You can now affix the ribbon to anything you like.

Once you understand the basic process for making a bow, you'll find you can use these skills in lots of ways. Try different widths and lengths of ribbon. You can use the bows to decorated wrapped gifts, add beauty to a bridal bouquet of flowers, create embellishments for a scrapbook, or add feminine charm to sewing projects. Have fun trying different variations and showing off your creativity.