How to Make Large DIY Christmas Bows

December 08, 2017

How to make EASY large Christmas bows for your holiday decor!

Simple instructions to make large bows for your Christmas decorations. 

So I searched for "easy Christmas DIY bows" the other day and tried at least three versions (that seemed incredibly easy). 

Each time I ended up with a mess of ribbon that looked NOTHING like what they showed. 

I finally found a simple bow that ended up looking pretty cute, so I wanted to share the easy steps!

You only need two things for this quick tutorial -- a (TON) of wired ribbon (I think I had 30 yards) and wire of some kind. You can use wire, floral wire, pipe cleaners...anything like that will work. 

1. Cut your ribbon to long lengths


First up, cut one long piece of ribbon at around five feet (I ended up making them a bit longer, around 65 inches) and a shorter piece at two feet. 

Then place the long one on a surface like so:
red ribbon DIY bow

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Using wired ribbon will make this much easier -- it keeps its shape as you go. 

I had to study the photo as I did this because I kept doing it backwards. You just lay it flat and then pull one side over, then the other. 

You may want to widen that part at the top as you go, that will be the back part of the bow.

2. Make your ribbon loops


Then, take the smaller section of ribbon and overlap the ends a bit like so: 
making loop for DIY bows

Grab that piece and flip it over so the solid side is in the front. Lay it on top of the longer piece: 
Easy DIY bow method with red ribbon

I didn't show it well here, but you want that piece to be a little less wide than the one already on the ground. 

Then you just kind of scrunch all of it up into one part -- grab the two from the bottom in the middle all the way up to the top piece. 

Don't worry about making it perfect: 
large red DIY bows

Take some wire and wrap it around to secure the parts together. 

You can adjust the bow as you do this if needed:
Make simple Christmas bows with wire

Your beautiful bow is just about complete! 

3. Time to hide the wire. 


I had leftover ribbon from decorating the tree so I just cut small pieces of ribbon and wrapped them around the wire in the middle. 

Then I used a piece of floral wire I already had on there to secure that part on the back too: 
plaid ribbon around DIY bow

Hot glue would work too! But this method keeps the number of necessary "tools" down. ;) 

Play around with it -- I used a plaid accent here, but ribbon with sparkles would look cute, or even a contrasting color. 

When you're done you can dress up the ends of the ribbon by folding them in half and then cutting with a pair of scissors like so:
cutting "V" at end of ribbon

This gives the tails of the bow that upside down "V" shape at the ends. Fluff as needed and then hang! 

Use the leftover wire in the back to hang your bows!

I hung mine in our stair garland: 
Greenery and DIY bows on stair railing
Check out our Christmas stairs here!


You can add these DIY bows so many places!
  • Make a giant bow tree topper for the Christmas tree
  • Add them to your holiday wreaths
  • Use smaller sections to make a bunch of Christmas tree bows in different sizes to fill empty spots
  • Make smaller versions of these simple bows for your Christmas gifts
  • Use for outdoor decorating on the mailbox or fence posts
I think they are such a pretty, traditional touch. 

So easy and simple -- just need to make sure you have plenty of ribbon!

Have you made these BIG bows or do you have a different way of doing it? 

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Comments

  1. Thank you for posting this! It was perfect timing for me as I was just saying to my hubby how I wish our outdoor light swags had bows at the top. I went to Targer and for just $5 bought some beautiful ribbons and followed your technique. They are gorgeous and really add to to the swags! Wish I could post a pic. So much better than the ready made bows at Target.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The step by step tutorial is wonderful, however, i would definitely like to see a closeup of the finished product. Thanks! BTW, your banister looks FABULOUS :-)

    ReplyDelete

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