Beautiful Bows For Your Christmas Gifts
So you’ve taken a lot of care choosing gifts for all your family and friends. Maybe you’ve even taken the trouble to make some yourself. Doesn’t your gift need the packing to match? This Christmas, put in a little of yourself into the packing by adding a beautiful bow. Each gift can have a different one, in a different color and wouldn’t that be a sight to see under the glowing lights of the Christmas tree?
If you go out shopping for ribbons, you’ll find there is a ribbon heaven out there. In the most exhaustive colors and textures and widths. Some are soft and satiny, some stiff and rough. Some are bright, some dull and elegant. Some so narrow and delicate, some wide and loud. You’ll find lacy ones, transparent ones, ones that shine and ones with patterns.
As you start using ribbons to make a wrapping statement, you’ll find your comfort level and what you like working with best. Maybe you need a slightly rougher feel so the bow stays in place. Or maybe you love the satiny, shiny look for your bows. Maybe you like to use two or three color-coordinated ribbons at a time in which case, you need to match them well.
You might need to keep your wrapping paper in mind too…for example, a patterned wrapping paper would need solid color ribbon while a solid color wrapping paper could just come alive with a brightly patterned ribbon. The ideal width for ribbons would be an inch and a half but once you become a pro at this you could try experimenting with wider ones or extremely narrow ones which make very intricate bows.
To start, take a long length of ribbon, say two and a half times the length needed to go around the wrapped-up gift. Center it on the top of the gift and take it all the way down to the bottom, cross the two ends and bring them back to the top of the gift.
Tie a knot to keep it in place. You could also tape or glue it so it stays firm. You could, before this, decide whether you want the cross formed by the ribbon to be dead-center or off-center. Now for the bow. Take another length of ribbon, say two feet.
Place this over the knot on the gift and make loops. You could twist the ribbon while you make these loops for a bit of variation. Once you’re through with this length, tie the ribbon that runs around the pack over it. Use something to fix it into place if need be. Now curl or trim the ends.
As you try your hand at more bows, you’ll find the ideas starting to flow and soon you’ll have a number of wonderful bows that you will be able to make ever so quickly. All it takes is a little patience and a lot of imagination. And the satisfaction of seeing your bows stand out in a crowd of presents. Maybe people will soon start identifying your gifts by their bows?
