I consider myself a bow making expert.

Seriously, I’ve earned it.

I have multiple lifetimes in retail and have wrapped a gazillions gifts.

Want to learn how to make a hand-tied bow?

It’s easier than you think.

Here is the

Ultimate Guide to Hand-Tied Bows…

This post is in partnership with PaperMart, however my opinions of PaperMart products are 100% my own.

I was unfamiliar with PaperMart until Shelly at Confetti Style introduced me to them through our Merry and Bright Blog Hop.  And boy am I glad she did!

A million years in retail and, trust me, I’ve used all types of papers and ribbons. You can find many different styles of wholesale wrapping paper rolls to suit your needs during the holiday season while still saving some money. I am a paper snob, if you will, because I like crisp creases.  Not all papers are created equal people!!  I’m sure you’ve had that experience…beautiful paper but it takes forever to wrap a gift because using certain papers are like trying to wrestle a feral cat.

Bows are the final step but first, you have to wrap! So let’s dive in with paper that makes life easy!

Here are my supplies from PaperMart:

Wrapping Paper:

 4210E0012  Metallic Cheetah – 4215A0024  Sage Green Wood Grain – 4215C0183  Ivory

Ribbon:  3/4″ poly Splendorette

4432033  Cerise – 4432033 Blacklack – 4432033 Red – 4432033 Turquoise – 4432033 Brown

Ribbon: Nylon Tulle 3″

90333357  Old Willow – 90333330 Red – 90333355 Chocolate – 90333359 Gold

Ribbon: Curling Ribbon  3/16″ Crimped

4435052  Ivory – 4435020  Black – 4435059 Flat Gold – 4435055 Chocolate – 4435030 Red – 4435075 Turquoise

Tissue:

43810AP Quire Mini White

Not all of these supplies are used in this post, but I’ll share more later.  (-;

The first step in making a fabulously festive gift is to wrap it!

Here are my “steps” to achieving the perfectly wrapped gift…

 I definitely believe in NOT WASTING ANY PAPER, don’t do it. By strategically placing your gift box on the paper, you can save the paper instead of just tossing it out. Below is a little slideshow where I show you how to properly wrap a pretty little package using PaperMart’s Ivory wrapping paper.

So here’s a couple of tips…

–If you wrap your package by using the width of the paper for small packages, rather than the length, you will save paper.  Sometimes it hard to tell if there enough paper to make the ends meet.  As shown in the first picture above, I started with my box at one edge of the paper and am flipping the box the across the width.  If you have at least an inch of paper left after you roll over all the sides, you will have enough paper.

–If you do not have enough for the width to be used and you have to cut on the length, rather than center your box, push it to one side.

–In order to save paper for your ends, the paper only needs to come up half way on the side of the box.  The second row of photos shows how the box is centered on the paper.  Because I cut the paper so that ends would come up half-way on the box, I have no trimming to do there after I make my folds.

Now on to the bow!  

I know hand tying a bow may sound intimidating to some but I promise I can break it down for you.

Here we go…

Have I told you guys I stopped coloring my hair?  I have gone au natural!  I am as white headed as Casper.  Lawd have mercy.

I hope this has been helpful!

This technique applies to all types of ribbon and all applications, with just a few tweaks.  The same method applies when creating bows with multiple ribbons, there is simply more to hold.  If you are making bows for outdoors, use a pipe cleaner instead of ribbon to hold the bow, that will provide an easy way to attach your bow.

You get the idea!

I know all of you guys are probably fabulous gift wrappers so I hope I have shared useful tidbits!

 

This post is in partnership with PaperMart, however my opinions of PaperMart products are 100% my own.