How to Make Christmas Bows

You can tie bows with long, short or no tails.

Many fabric and craft stores carry Christmas ribbon in a variety of widths, colors and styles. You can use Christmas ribbon to tie bows for the tops of gifts, as decorations for the tree or the house or even as napkin rings. You can use Christmas ribbon to tie a fluffy bow made of loops of ribbon or you can make a flat, tailored bow for a more subtle, elegant Christmas look.

Things You'll Need

• Christmas ribbon
• Narrow ribbon
• Scissors
• Stapler (optional)
• Glue (optional)

Instructions

Make Christmas Bows With Loops of Ribbon

1. Unspool some ribbon. Leave several inches on the end of the bow for a tail, if desired. You may want the bow to have no tails, short decorative tails or long tails for tying.

2. Make a loop in the Christmas ribbon the size you want for the bottom of the bow. Twist the ribbon and make another loop the same size on the opposite side of the bow.

3. Twist the ribbon and make a smaller loop of Christmas ribbon on top of the first loop. Twist the ribbon and make the same size loop on the opposite side.

4. Hold the center of the Christmas bow with your thumb on top and index finger underneath. Wrap the ribbon over your thumb to make a small loop, then remove your thumb. Continue holding the loops together.

5. Cut the end of the Christmas ribbon, so the tail is the same size as on the first side.

6. Insert a piece of narrow ribbon through the small loop on top of the Christmas bow. Wrap the narrow ribbon around the bow and tie the ends together. Cut off the excess narrow ribbon with scissors.

7. Fluff out the loops so that the Christmas bow looks nice and even. You can gently pull the loops away from each other if you want to make a puffier bow.

Make Flat Christmas Bows

1. Cut a piece of Christmas ribbon a little more than twice as wide as you want the bottom of the bow. Overlap the ends of the ribbon to make a loop.

2. Pinch the loop together so that it looks like an "8." Staple the center of the loop together, making sure to catch the overlapping ends of the ribbon in the staple.

3. Make two or more additional loops of Christmas ribbon, each slightly smaller than the previous one. Stack the loops on top of each other, with the largest loop on the bottom and the smallest loop on top.

4. Cut a piece of ribbon longer than the largest loop to make the tails. Place the loops on top of the tails ribbon. Staple all the ribbons together in the center.

5. Cut a short piece of Christmas ribbon, just long enough to wrap around the center of the bow with the ends overlapping. Wrap the ribbon around the center of the bow to hide the staple, then glue the ends of the ribbon together.

Tips & Warnings

• Trim the Christmas ribbon tails at an angle, or cut V-shaped notches into the ends to give the bow a more decorative look.

• If you like having Christmas ribbon on hand, you might want to check out after-Christmas clearance sales and stock up on ribbon for the next year.

• Be careful when working with scissors and staplers.