How to Make the Perfect Bow on Your Christmas Gifts

Would you like to give your friends and family the perfect Christmas gifts this holiday season? Of course, the perfect Christmas gift starts with the inside. The toy for the new baby or the piece of grandma's childhood will be fun to shop for. When you have made your purchases though, the wrapping will also be an important addition to the Christmas gift. This year, why not add a personal touch, and learn how to make the perfect Christmas bow for each wonderful Christmas gift? Using your own expertise in artful taste and color and pattern coordination, you can create a truly gorgeous spread under the tree.

The first step in making your own Christmas bows is to buy some ribbon that coordinates with your wrapping paper. If you find a good sale, buy all of it that looks good to you. That way youâ_Tll have some to use for future birthday parties, baby showers and more Christmas celebrations. Not all ribbon will hold itself into bows. Depending on your patience level, you might want to choose ribbon that is stiff rather than not and rough rather than slippery. As you gain more experience, your options for ribbon styles will increase. When choosing ribbon, also pay attention to how they look together. You will, as already mentioned, want them to coordinate with the wrapping on your packages, but you may want more than one option for each type of wrapping so that you can experiment with the appearance of more than one color of ribbon in the same Christmas bow. If your wrapping paper is a solid color, you can also choose ribbons with patterns for a lively-looking bow. Finally, you should decide on the preferred width for the colors, styles and patterns of ribbons you have chosen. While narrow ribbon may produce more intricate bows, I recommend wider ribbon. One to one and a half inches is an easy width to work with in order to create elegant bows.

A simple and perfect Christmas bow for the perfect Christmas gift, starts with a wrapped package and plenty of ribbon. Take enough ribbon to wrap around the entire package two and a half times. Start at the top, with the ribbon centered on the package, and wrap it to the bottom. At the bottom of the package, cross the two ends of the ribbon and wrap one around the other. Pull the ribbon tight so that it lies smoothly across the top of the package. Next, take the two ends and wrap them back up to the top of the package. If your ribbon is stiff and rough enough, tie the two ends in a simple knot. If not, hold them tightly in a knot and either staple it to the package, or hot glue it to the wrapping. What you should have now is a package, crossed with ribbon. Experiment with the placement of the cross. You may want it centered, moved more to one side or up in the corner of the gift. Next, we will make the bow.

Take an arm's length of the same, or coordinating, ribbon. Start with one end and lay it over your knot on the top of the package. Fold over four inches of the ribbon one direction and then the other. You are making a pile of loops. When you have used all of the ribbon, tie the two ends that you initially wrapped the package with around the middle of the bow. Again, if the ribbon won't hold itself in a knot, use hot glue. You may trim the ends or curl them. Feel free to experiment with tying more ends to the initial knot so there is more to curl. Also, try spinning the Christmas bow's loops a little bit before you tie it to add an interesting flair with different layers. Use your imagination to add colors and variations to each package's bow.

Making your own Christmas bows for your Christmas gifts is fun and rewarding. Choosing your materials and making original creations is an exciting process. The people you love will also appreciate the effort you put into making their Christmas gifts truly beautiful. Your Christmas gifts will be received with anticipation. Don't be surprised if you see children and adults alike walking around this year's Christmas party, wearing your Christmas bows.