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How to Make a Fancy Bow With Wire Ribbon

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Do you love the look of fancy bows, but feel like you just aren’t crafty enough to make them yourself?  I can tell you, it is actually really easy!  Check out my step-by-step tutorial on how to make a fancy bow with wire ribbon.

Merry Christmas bow and different colored Christmas gift bags on wood background.

See more Christmas crafts and DIYs.

Tying a fancy bow for gifts looks like a lot of work, but I promise it’s not as hard as you might think!  After you get the hang of it, you can make them in just a few minutes.

I posted a few days ago about making the gift sacks.  Check out How to Make Reusable Gift Sacks for All Occasions!

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SUPPLIES FOR MAKING BOWS:

  • Wire ribbon (Here is a link to some pretty ribbon I saw on Amazon, but it’s a bit pricey).  I got mine as a doorbuster deal at Michael’s.  If you look around, you can often find ribbon at a very reasonable price this time of year)
  • Jute twine
  • scissors
  • Measuring tape
Items needed to make a gift bow: Wire ribbon, jute twine, scissors.

STEP 1 – Cut your ribbon:

Cut 4 1/2 – 6 feet of wire ribbon for a medium-sized bow.  The longer your ribbon, the fuller the bow will be.

Zig zag the wire ribbon to make a fancy bow.

Step 2 – Make a zig zag with your ribbon:

"Merry Christmas" wire ribbon after zig-zagging for bow making. Wood background.

Begin zig-zagging your ribbon back and forth. This zig-zag is ~5 inches long.  Do this for the entire length of you ribbon.

Step 3 – Cut V Notch in both sides of ribbon:

Cut a small “V” notch in the middle of both sides of your ribbon stack, ensuring you cut through all layers.  

Note, I used some old kitchen shears for this bow that are not even close to sharp because I was in a hurry. If you used decent scissors, you will have a much smoother cut.

But, as you will see by the end result, it doesn’t really matter that much if your scissors are less than perfect or frankly, if your “V” notch is less than perfect!

Cut "v" in top and Bottom of ribbon when making bow.

Step 4 – Tie a knot around notches:

Tie a knot around the notches you just made with the jute twine.

Tie string around ribbon (step in making bow for gift wrapping)

Step 5 – Spread out and shape your bow!

Start spreading out your bow, bending the wire as needed.  If the ribbon you have has a print or words on one side like mine, simply turn it inside out.  

Then, you can shape the wire to make your bow look full and pretty.

Bend the wires to fluff out bow.
'Merry Christmas' wire ribbon bow for gifts.

You’re done!  You have just learned how to make a fancy bow with wire ribbon!

Christmas gift bags with hand-made bows and decorations.

These gift tags were made in just a few minutes as well.

Here are the supplies for the gift tags:

Use the paper trimmer to cut the natural card into smaller sizes for gift tags. Scissors would work just fine for this, but I find my trimmer helps me make straighter edges.

Making gift tags from natural cards in size 5 x 7 using paper trimmer.

Put holes in the tops of the cards and decorate with stamps.  Then, tie the gift tag onto gift bag with jute twine. So easy!

Making gift tags with ink stamps and natural cards.
Christmas gift bags in buffalo plaid, green and tan burlap using wire ribbon bows.

Done!

Thanks for stopping by and reading how to make a fancy bow with wire ribbon! Now it’s time to go wrap some presents and make them pretty!

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13 Comments

  1. Just finished wrapping presents and now I am in the tags and bows. This couldn’t have come at a better time!

  2. I love this bow! I’ve tried this in the past and have failed miserably! hoping this tutorial will help me get it this time 🙂

  3. Wow! I was always doing mine without the notches. No wonder they never looked that great, it’s all about the notches. Thanks for this helpful tutorial.

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