Sunday, December 13, 2009

Christmas Bow Wreath Tutorial

I popped into my favorite ribbon store the other day to get ribbon for Isabelle's Christmas bow. While in there I saw this cute ribbon wreath sample (why didn't I think of that?) Anyways, it is so easy and would make a cute gift or an added Christmas decoration you can whip up this week. I personally love making at least one Christmas decoration each year.



Here is what you will make, a ribbon wreath

You'll need a wire wreath. I picked this standard one up from Michaels. The ribbon store sample was a single thick wire wreath that was a bit smaller.


Pick 3-4 ribbons for the bows. I ended up using 43 yards (1 1/2 in. wide) total for my wreath. You'll use a bit more or less depending on your wreath and ribbon size. Cut 3/4 yard pieces (27 inch) and I used 19 pieces of each color for my wreath.
Michael's has ribbon currently for half off and if you plan ahead for next year you can get ribbon 75-90% off at Michael's or another craft store right after Christmas. I bought 3 20-yard bolts and have plenty left over so I'm going to go pick up another color so I can make another wreath as a gift.

My ribbon also had wire and I used pliers to pull all the wire out. Highly recommend doing this or your bows will end up looking weird and will be harder to tie and will smush easier during storage.

My red/green plaid ribbon ended up being my favorite and held up to the bows well. The mesh gold tore easier so I had to be careful but also tied bows well and my red was a bit flimsy and wanted to tie skinny bows instead of fatter fuller ones.


Start tying them on to the wreath. I went completely around the whole entire outside of the wreath. Also, remember when you are tying bows to keep one tail longer than the other when beginning your bow as the longer tail will go around to become the middle. You'll figure it out.


This is the underside of the wreath.

A close up of the backside.

That's it! I would also recommend fray checking all of the ends so that they don't start fraying and will keep your wreath looking nice for longer. I haven't done that yet, but need to. If you haven't used fray check, you can buy it pretty cheap at Wal-Mart for about $2. Poke the top in with a pin. I didn't read the directions my first time and cut off the top. BIG mistake as it dripped everwhere. I had to throw the whole bottle away.


Viola! All done after tying on all of my bows. So cute! I probably spent 2 hrs doing this. Easy Peasy!

Supplies Needed:
Wire Wreath
3-4 ribbons 1 1/2-2 inches wide and cut into 3/4 yard pieces (27 inch.)
43 yards total if using the Michael's wire wreath above.
Fray check

2 comments:

LKC said...

So cute! I'm totally going to do this.

Sara said...

Me, too! Thanks for the idea share!!!