When my dad was growing up, he and his family were very poor. One day my aunt was going to a birthday party and they wrapped the gift in the comics from the newspaper. Well, she was already embarrassed her gift wasn’t wrapped in real gift wrap, but she was devastated that they didn’t have a bow to put on top! So, my grandmother made her own bow. She grabbed some more newspaper, folded it up and I’m pretty sure that gift turned out to be the cutest present of the bunch!
My grandmother taught my mom how to make this bow and my mama taught me. And now I’m passing on what works for me to you. Don’t you feel honored?!
First. Wrap a present. Piece o’cake.
Second. Find some leftover wrapping paper. (Usually the extra you cut off the end of the package…)
Third. Fold the two ends in so they meet in the middle..or overlap a little, apparently.
Fourth. Trim it to a good size. (This is subjective and just depends on the size of your gift. I kinda like to go overboard and make a giant bow that covers the whole box. But you coul make a little one, too.)
Fifth. Find the middle. Get ready to squeeze.
Sixth. Squeeze.
Seventh. Find another scrap of paper. Wrap it around the middle. (To keep the squeeze.)
Eighth. Tape together on back. Now set aside.
Ninth. Find more scraps. Cut into two equal strips…these will be the tails of your bow. So, try to make them proportionate to the bow. (This is something I do not always accomplish…)
Tenth. Now, fold it in half longways. Cut one of the bottom corners off with a small diagonal…uhm, cut.
Which will give you a bea-u-tiful ribbon bottom. (Or something. I don’t really know what it’s called. But it looks nice.)
Eleventh. Now, tape your little tails down on the package. It looks a little better if you gather the top…give it a little 3d feel.
Twelfth. Now get your bow back out. Tape it down in the middle…sometimes it might need a little taping down on the sides, too. Fluff, spread and shape to your liking.
I also think this would look great with coordinating gift wrap instead of matching. I haven’t tried that yet…but I think I’m gonna! Happy gift giving!!
(and because I love me some linky love,
here’s a few more make-your-own-bows I’ve found online:
curbly, shirleyfyfe, perennial passion, instructables)
I love this!!! I am always fretting over throwing away those scraps! What a great way to use them up!
I found you through Mrs.4444’s gift giving list, btw.
Liz
What a neat idea! No more buying bags of bows that get squished when you have to pack them up! Thank you!
Super cute and what a great idea! I love giving gifts with big bows. I’m gonna use this idea.
Those are beautiful! Thank you for a wonderful idea.
Lovely idea! Thank you for sharing. I look forward to wrapping my Christmas gifts with theses lovely bows.
You are too awesome. I don’t know how you come up with this stuff! Totally doing this on all the other presents I have to wrap!
Steph
I love this idea…I’m even glad I still have some gifts to wrap so I can try it out!
Just in time! I’m going to wrap a thousand (slight over exaggeration) gifts right now!!!
How cute is that!!
What an amazing idea. i hate to throw away all those paper scraps…now I don’t have too!
Awesome idea! Thanks for the comment on my blog so that I could find you!
I was thinking we could get even more crafty and pick contrasting papers so the bows pop even more!
I thought the same thing! I’m going to try it if I have some paper that coordinates…
I really like this! Very cute!!!!
This is such a cool idea! So simple! So clever! OK, I’ll stop with the exclamation points now! Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to try this. (I came here via Works-for-Me-Wednesday, btw.)
I *heart* this, too! Thanks for such a great tip! BTW – last year, I think you gave a tip on how you and Les put away Christmas lights…. was that you? Well, I thought about you last night b/c we decorated the house outside, and I came across all these ones I rolled up the way you do it, and Josh was like, “who in the world did these?” I just smiled….
I’m totally doing this!!! Thanks so much for the tip!
I remember the first time that we wrapped Christmas presents together. I remember that you always made a bow for the presents.. and I thought that was crazy because #1 we never put bows on our presents #2 it was time consuming. Even though I generally don’t put bows on my family’s Christmas presents. I do put bows on all the presents that are going to nonfamily members when I want the present to look extra special. See Amanda, you changed my life and you didn’t even know it! lol
This is really great, I’d never think to make a bow from the giftwrap itself! Thanks for the tutorial =)
How clever! Thanks for another great idea.
Awesome! I agree it is a tragedy to have a nicely wrapped present without the proper accessories!
Thanks for the tutorial!
I am so going to try this!
That is a cute bow and I think it’s one even I could probably make. Thanks for sharing.
How cute! What a creative solution!
I just made your paper bow and it turned out soooo cute. Thanks for the detailed instructions. I’m thinking my friend who gets the package will appreciate the clever bow almost as much as the gift. 🙂
Cute idea. Thanks for sharing!
This is the best! It makes such sense but I would never have thought of it.
Thanks for sharing. Again.
LOVE this idea. Thanks for sharing. I will be trying this idea this Christmas. I found this tutorial through Tip Junkie. Thanks again…happy wrapping…and Merry Christmas.
love this!!! Thank you so much for sharing your family secret – I am going to definately pass it on to my girls and let it become one of our family traditions as well!!! Merry Christmas and blessings be yours.
Ann Marie
So cool! I think this is especial great for little kids who have a hard time taking off ribbon wrapped all the way around a package. Thank you so much for the tutorial.
.-= Darcy´s last blog ..Blizzard! =-.
Even more beautiful than the bow (which is gorgeous) is the story behind it! Thanks for sharing! I will smile everytime I use that idea! I hope you don’t mind – I’m sharing it on my blog with a link to YOU!
very cute–you’re so crafty!
.-= vanessa´s last blog ..jan brett christmas favorites =-.
Very cute, and a great idea! Thanks!
Genuis!
This is so beautiful…I am going to try this for my gifts now…. thanks 🙂
fantastic and really thanx for passing ur family wisdom
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Adorable bow. Heres another idea for a simple bow:
http://my-gift-wrapping-ideas.blogspot.co.il/2010_10_26_archive.html
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