I love beautifully wrapped gifts.  I think beautiful wrapping is just as important as the gift inside.  However I don’t like to spend crazy pants amounts of money on wrapping paper and ribbon and bows.  Actually, the reality is that you don’t have to spend anything on wrapping remember this or this?   You can even craft bows DIY Paper Bows from old or colored paper that you have around the house.  It’s easier than you’d think to make and the result is beautiful!

Materials:

Strips of paper
Double sided tape
Scissors
I love this because you can customize your bows in any color or pattern of paper you like – I used an old book for this bow and love, love the result!  Cut Strips of paper into several different lengths.  For a bigger bow, you’ll need 4-5 or more sizes of strips; for a smaller one only 3-4 sizes.  I made a standard sized gift bow and the largest strip was the length of the scissors.  You’ll need 3 strips of each size except only one size for the final center strip.

How-To:

Twist each strip into a figure 8 shape and tape the ends onto the strip with a piece of double sided tape.  Make all the strips into a figure 8 to prep the bow.

Stack the figure 8 strips onto each other affixing each one together with a piece of double sided tape at the center of the bow.  You’ll want to stack them off-center in an x pattern so the edges form a bow shape and don’t stack and smash the tips of one below.

Once the figure 8’s are all used up, make a simple loop with the final strip and tape down in the center of the bow to complete it.

Place the DIY Paper Bows onto a wrapped gift for a beautiful finish – Merry Christmas to you!