The Bow Blog

As much as I complain about how many gifts I have to wrap for my Mom, I really do love wrapping. And as much as my Mom complains about me going to so much trouble when my nephews are just going to rip things open, she also requests "pretty wrapping" for certain gifts and I know she wants a full-on deluxe wrap job. Maybe it's the princess in me, but I think everyone gets more excited about opening a gift in a beautiful package.

I frequently get comments on my bows in particular, so I thought I'd oblige everyone who's asked me "How do you do that?" in the past year with an instructional blog on how to create a gorgeous bow for your package. And to anyone who thinks I'm a wrapping genius and figured this out on my own, not so...I think I read it in Southwest magazine while cruising at 30,000 feet somewhere.

Anyway, here goes! And for any of my trainer friends that are reading, I'd appreciate your feedback on the effectiveness and clarity of my directions. Because as we all know, feedback is a gift!

How to Tie the Perfect Bow

1) Start with an attractive wire edged ribbon. The wire is critical because it helps the bow hold it's shape. Cut a length long enough to wrap around your package once in each direction. Start with the package face up, and lay the ribbon across the center of the package.



2) Holding the ribbon in place on the sides, flip the package over, and twist the two sides of the ribbon together to form a cross. It will look like this:



3) Once you've tied the cross on the back side, flip the package over again and do the same thing in the front.



4) Hold another section of ribbon up to the package and measure with your hand so you have a length almost as wide as the most narrow part of the package. Cut another piece of ribbon 6-10 times the length of the portion you measured.



5) Fold over the new piece of ribbon several times until you have an accordion of ribbon the same width as the narrow part of your package.



6) Lay the accordion over the center of the cross on the top side of the package. Tie a knot across the accordion using the free ends of the bow wrapped around the package.



7) After the knot is tied, use the package sections of ribbon to tie a simple bow on top of the accordion.



8) Spread out each section of the accordion to make individual loops. Twist each section if needed to make the loop face the desired direction.



9) When all the loops are open, give the bow a final fluff and you're done!!



Happy wrapping!