How to Tie a Bow
Every Christmas, my gift wrapping is put to shame at Chris’s grandmother’s house. In my family, we use the bag of pre-made bows on our presents. Wrap the gift, shove the bow on there – you’re good to go. But when I get to Chris’s grandmother’s house (where we have his family’s Christmas), I hang my head in shame at my store-bought bows.
Grandma Brown and Chris’s aunt, Neely, are exquisite gift wrappers. I wish I had taken a picture of their presents to show you as evidence, but I was so distracted by their pretty presents I forgot to take a picture. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Christmas at the Brown house looks like a glittery, sparkly, perfectly-tied up Norman Rockwell painting.
This year when I got into town, I still had one or two presents left to wrap and instead of going out and buying all these wrapping supplies for two gifts, I went over to Grandma Brown’s to borrow some of hers. First of all, her collection of wrapping supplies should be in a museum somewhere. That woman had more wrapping paper than Walmart. She had tissue paper by the box. And speaking of boxes, she had every size and shape imaginable. And don’t get me started on her collection of gift bags. Martha Stewart would have been in awe. I know I was.
But the best part about her gift wrapping supplies was where and how she stores them. She has three of those Rubbermaid containers that slide under your bed. One box is full of wrapping paper tubes. They fit perfectly in those long, flat boxes – who woulda thunk? The second Rubbermaid box is full of tissue paper and gift bags and the third is full of boxes and ribbon for bows. Now, some of you might keep your gift wrapping supplies this easily organized so this might not impress you. But to me – the person who keeps crumpled, half used tubes of wrapping paper shoved behind the office door – it was an organizational site to behold. I plan to go out this weekend and buy those exact storage boxes so I can start my own collection.
Anyway, while going through her gift wrap, I asked her about bows for my packages, but she only had the ribbon for bows.
“Oh, I don’t think I can do ribbon bows…” I said hesitantly.
“Sure you can!” she insisted. “It’s easy!”
In about a minute, Grandma Brown showed me how to tie the most beautiful ribbon bows ever! And that’s about as long as it took for me to become a professional bow tie-er.
So, I thought I’d share the secret with you, in case you wanted to fluff up your gift wrapping for birthdays or other special occasions throughout the year.
First, you wrap your present in wrapping paper. This one is my Grandma’s birthday present, so it’s birthday themed instead of Christmas themed.
Then you take your WIRED RIBBON (the wire is critical) and wrap it simply around your present…
And tie it simply.
Voila! Step one: Complete!
Then, if you’re pregnant, stand up and stretch your back so that you can walk in the morning.
After the stretch, cut a separate long piece of ribbon. We’re going to use this to make the bow for our package.
Next, take one end of the ribbon and form a loop.
And then form another loop on the bottom, too.
Then go back and forth, making loops on the top and the bottom until you have 5 or 6 different loops. You can do more loops and it will make your bow bigger. Just go with however many loops your present needs. 5-6 loops’ll do ya for a medium sized package.
Next, take one of the ends of the ribbon and wrap it JUST ONCE around the center of the loops you just made.
If you’re pregnant, stand up and stretch here, too. Your back will thank you.
Now the fun starts… Place the loop bouquet you have made into the center of the ribbon you previously tied to your present.
Now, take those two long pieces you left hanging off your present in that very first step and tie them over the loop bouquet, securing it to the package.
And that’s it! Your bow is tied! All that’s left now is to make it pretty, so spread out the loops and make them smooth. Shape ’em around until it looks just like Martha Stewart’s. Or Grandma Brown’s.
If you have long ribbon ends hanging off your package after the bow is tied, like I did, then cut those down a bit so it doesn’t look like your package has floppy ears.
And that’s it! Trust me, this is fool proof! I am the world’s most un-creative person and even I could manage this. The trick is in the ribbon. Pick a sparkly one. That automatically adds some va-va-voom to your gift and it distracts from your bow if it isn’t perfect.
Try it the next time you want to add a little something special to your gift giving. People will think you’re Martha Stewart.
Or Grandma Brown.
*****
Today I am grateful that my friend, Sarah, and I are pregnant for the 2nd time together!
26 Comments
Jen at Cabin Fever
I wonder what it is about all our fears of tying bows? I am so afraid of them and horrible, but I guess I need to just embrace it and practice. Good thing I have a lot of family birthdays coming up
Cabin Fever in Vermont
Nate's Mom
How cute would a double wedding be between your kids and Sarah’s kids? 🙂 My aunt was obsessed with these bows one Christmas. Her hands are riddled with arthritis but she didn’t care. The tree looked lovely with all those packages. It was really, really pretty.
Abby @ They Lend Me Their Hearts
So you don’t tie a bow around the second ribbon with the first ribbon? I would have taken a horrible turn there. Thanks! Now I have something to do with the two wire ribbons I saved from other presents because they were too pretty not to save!
Sarah in CT
True confessions, Katie: I now have the absolute perfect gift for Miss Gracie, but I didn’t know if I could give it to you until yesterday! 🙂 Now I’ll be looking for a non-pink version for us, and I’m so excited to send this to you! Also, I have grown up with years of bow-making training from my mom and grandmother, but we always use the curling ribbon instead of wire. I might have to try to big bows for more dazzle!
Lee Ann
I know a family that (some of) the family members actually have a “prettiest gift wrap” competition. Before anyone can open gifts on Christmas, the whole family has to vote on the prettiest gift package. Competitive, huh?
Tiffany
That is awesome! I am pretty proficient with curling ribbon but I’ve never been able to manage the big, wide stuff to make bows. Now I’m going to try again! Yours turned out lovely, btw!
Jen D.
You know that’s the same technique you can use to make sweet little Gracie HAIR BOWS!!! You don’t have to use wired ribbon {use grosgrain} but you do the loop-de-loop things {very professional term} just a couple times and hot glue that sucker to a clip!
Alyssa
Very nice! But now you’ll have to learn how to tie beautiful bows for the back of all of Gracie’s dresses 🙂
Nikki
Oh how I love beautiful bows. But I, like you, have been a notorious bow buying Christmas present wrapper. My mom on the other hand is an amazing bow maker! She gets compliments all of the time. I should try to learn her technique next year.
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
The most useful job I had in high school was in the gift wrap department of a major department store. I wrap a mean present and yes – wired ribbon makes all the difference in the world.
Kristan @ Scenes from the Galley
I am definitely going to give this a whirl. I am really inept when it comes to this – although my fiance is even worse, so I’m always the default present wrapper! I even struggle with the curling ribbon, so if I can make this work with your tutorial, it will be a cause for celebration (and more presents!)!
Elizabeth@The Sweet Life
What an unexpected, simple, and yet totally helpful topic to post on! Thanks for sharing your learnings.
Kat @ Living Like the Kings
How impressive. I’ve tried to do this on my own many times and I’d like to think I’m crafty. Mine did NOT come out like that. I now buy bows.
laurenbtrain
go you!! i had a friend show me this a few years ago and it has revolutionized my present wrapping!! now that you are a professional, do it the same way but use tulle or raffia! just do a few extra loops for more poofy-ness! LOVE IT!
Life of a Doctor's Wife
Oooh pretty!! I am HORRIBLE at wrapping presents, just in general. They never turn out well.
Jody
Oh that is so pretty! I have my wrapping stored in an upright container because my bed is Mr. Stubby and I found out AFTER I purchased a fancy-shmancy under the bed storage that the container was too tall to fit under. Learn from me, measure before you get them!
Katherine Malone
Great demo! Thank you so much for posting this! I always kind of flub my bows, and have never asked my mom (who is like your Grandma in skill!) how to actually DO them. Happy New Year!
Kathleen
I just found a great wrapping paper organizer on The Container Store’s website. It sounds like Grandma Brown’s only there are 3 small separate containers INSIDE the big one for scissors/tape, bows, and something else! What?! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you guys! xoxo
Sarah C.
If you fold the ends of the wired ribbon (wire to wire) and cut at an angle upwards, you get a fancy end to the ribbon, kind of like an arrowhead. Just a little extra something. Great info, I’m using it for my next wrap job!
Amy
Wow, pretty! I’m another who leaves wrapping paper tubes in weird places, curses the universe when I can’t find them the following Christmas, and so buys more. I think I have about five years worth of half-used paper tubes hiding around the house. Not good!
Renee
Oh, hurray! I have always wanted to know how to tie pretty bows. I have attempted before and failed miserably. This looks so simple–I was making it way too difficult. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah H.
Awesome!! I am also uncrafty! Sorry I haven’t been commenting as much—work went and got busy on me!
Lori @ I Can Grow People
I don’t make my own bows either. And I never can match the gift wrapping skills of my husband’s parents. All of the tape applied by his dad is the same size and perfectly square. His mom, crafts her own boxes and has even MADE her own paper–with pulp and drying racks and everything. The boxes they made for P-Bo’s first Christmas were astounding! I can’t compete with that. Heck, SANTA himself can’t compete with that!
Kristine
You can actually use the same technique with curling ribbon, and tons of big loops- then snip about 1/2 of the loops and use your scissors to curl the loose ends- you’ll end up with a really pretty, full looking bow, and it’ll cost almost nothing!
Renee
First of all, yay for you with all the healthy stuff. I am trying so hard to eat healthy during my pregnancy, but it’s hard to find good fruits and vegetables in northern Michigan this time of year.
And, I love the Swiss Cake Rolls. I keep a box in my classroom for a “special” snack for myself when my students are in gym. Yesterday, I went to grab some graham crackers for a student who had forgotten their snack. They saw the box, and said, “Ooooh, can I have one of those?” Um, sorry, sweetie. I love you and all, but those are MINE. 🙂
Renee
Ummm…that last comment was meant for your food post. Obviously it is too early for me to be reading or posting anything on the computer.