This is our little kitten Chuu being a wrapping helper. Hehe, had to add it in :)
During college I would make extra Christmas money by wrapping presents for friends and family. Wrapping is one of those silly little hobbies I have, and bow tying is the best part! While wrapping some gifts this season, I thought that a how-to on bow's would be a perfect little bonus during the holiday season! You can use any type of ribbon for bow making, it does not need to be specifically for presents. I love using the two tone ribbon that is nice and shiny!
- Cut the ribbon so that it will go around your package about 2.5 times. If you want to do the traditional four-sides bow, double that.
- Wrap ribbon around the package and tie. Make sure your knot is tight and you keep your finger secure there until the bow is done... Finger aerobics!
- Tie a bow, making sure that the satin side of the ribbon is on the outside... This may involve a quick ribbon twist.
- Tighten the bow so the ribbon going around the gift is also tight.
- Loosen the top piece of ribbon that is between the two "ears" so you can just barely fit your finger through. This will loosen things up a bit, but do not worry.
- Take the looong pieces of extra ribbon, one at a time. Fold the ribbon over the bow's mid-point so it makes a pretty round loop (again, make sure the ribbon is pretty side out). Place the end of the ribbon through the hole you made during step five... The ribbon should end up going under the loop from step five and back towards the side it came from. Pull the ribbon so the loop you just created is about 1/2 to 1 inch wide.
- Repeat until there is no ribbon left, about 2 times. Then, complete on the other side.
- Take the beginning two "ears" and tighten them like you would shoe laces... If you don't wear laces, pull the top part of one ear and the bottom part of the opposing until the bow is tight.
- Your bow should look pretty awful right now with two crazy long pieces and a lot of bunched up loops. To make it look normal, and pretty, start evening out the loops by going in order from the first loop you made to the last. Just pull the loop so the ear gets smaller and the loop gets way bigger, then pull the next loop so they are the same size.
- Tighten again as needed just like we did in step 8. and hide the ribbon ends under all the pretty loops... This should also happen on it's own.
- Write "To" and "From" on the bottom and admire your hard work! If you would like, you can also tape the bottom ribbon... This is good if you have pets, children, or will be traveling with the gifts wrapped.
If you would like to learn my wrapping method, check out my snapguide on wrapping later today!
