Learn how to make the easiest fluffy Christmas bows in minutes. A great way to add style to wreaths, gifts and other holiday home décor.
Are you a crafter?
I try to be.
Really I do.
I have so many ideas running through my head.
When I see things for sale in a store I think to myself…I can make that.
I’m always so inspired by craft projects.
But I’ll be honest with you…I’m not that creative or patient.
So, I usually just buy décor pieces instead of making them.
However, the interest is there…I really want to be more creative and maybe save some money in the process.
Because I’m kinda cheap too! LOL
I hate spending money on something that looks simple to make.
Last year I updated my Christmas window greenery swags (you can see them here) and made new bows for each one.
You can see exactly how I made the simple single-looped bows in this post.
I really loved the new look of my outdoor decor because the ribbon I used for the bows was just so pretty.
It was red and black plaid, which was totally my style, and looked perfect on my windows flanked with black shutters.
But if you’ve been around here for a while, you may remember that we had our house painted this past summer you can see the before and after pictures here.
And the bows I made last year didn’t coordinate as well with the new color scheme of my home.
No worries…I just got some new spools of ribbon to make more bows and update the look of those window swags again this year!
Let’s see how easy it is…
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What Supplies Do You Need to Make Bows?
To make these super simple bows you will need a few basic supplies.
You may already have some of these at home.
Supply List:
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Of course, you can choose any ribbon pattern you love and coordinates with your holiday decor.
Since I liked the red and black plaid ribbon that I used last year so much, I wanted to make my new ribbons with plaid again.
I found a classic tartan plaid ribbon at Walmart and knew it would be perfect for my outdoor Christmas decorations.
Unfortunately, the same ribbon isn’t available online any longer but I found this plaid one from Amazon that’s very similiar if you love plaid too.
How to a Make Full Bow with Wired Ribbon
I had planned to repeat the same steps I followed last year for my easy Christmas DIY bows.
But I soon realized that the new ribbon was a bit narrower than the one I used last year.
This ribbon was 2″ wide and the old ribbon was 2 1/2″ wide.
After assembling the first bow it looked a little dinky…ugh!
So, I decided to go with plan B and “beef up” the bows and make them fluffier.
First, I cut the new 2″ wide ribbon into 16″ strips.
These pieces of ribbon will be used to make the loops of the bow.
Next, I cut the ribbon into 24″ strips for the tail of the bow.
To make each Christmas bow I used three 16″ pieces of ribbon and one 24″ piece of ribbon.
Since I was creating 15 holiday bows, I cut enough ribbon to assemble all of the bows (45 – 16″ pieces and 15 – 24″ lengths).
Once all my ribbon was cut I stapled the ends of each 16″ ribbon together to form a loop.
S2M Tip: You can make quick work of this project by completing all of one step before starting the next step rather than assembling an entire bow. Cut all your pieces of ribbon. Then staple all your ribbon then assemble bow.
After all the 16″ pieces of ribbon were stapled to create a circle, I grabbed three loops and stacked them on top of one another.
Be sure all your loops are lined up.
Then add one of your 24″ lengths of ribbon to the bottom of the stack of three stapeled loops.
Be sure to center the longer piece of ribbon in the middle of your stack of three loops so your ribbon turns out even.
You can use either a pipe cleaners or floral wire to assemble your bows.
I’ve used both and they each work great, so just grab what you have readily available.
Scrunch the three loops and the tail ribbon pieces together with your fingers, then wrap the pipe cleaner around the middle of the bow.
Wrap the pipe cleaner tightly to be sure your ribbon is securely assembled.
I used these green pipe cleaners so that they blend well with my Christmas greenery and aren’t noticeable.
After your ribbon is secured, fluff out the three loops on either side of the pipe cleaner until you get a fluffy look you love.
S2M Tip: Use wired ribbon so that you can easily manipulate and twist the ribbon to form a full bow.
After the bow looked nice and full I clipped the ends of the ribbon into a V-shape.
I used a full size pipe cleaner which gave me the extra length needed to adhere the new bow to my window greenery swags.
Wired ribbon also allows you to bend the tails of the bow so they lay nicely on whatever Christmas decor piece your adding your ribbon.
The new bows still give me a pop of the red color I love on the outside of our home during the holidays.
But switching to the classic tartan plaid added some white to the bows and coordinates better with the freshly painted lighter color of our shutters
Plus the new bows are fuller and adds even more color to the window swags.
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If you have any questions or suggestions, contact me or leave a comment!
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