Make My Day Camp: DIY: make your own gift bows

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

DIY: make your own gift bows

This is a repeat post, but it's been a long time since it originally posted so I thought I'd give you a refresher and reminder since everyone is most likely in wrapping frenzy right about now! You can easily make bows out of strips of magazines (or newspaper, flyers, catalogs, wrapping paper) - reuse, recycle, repurpose! Plus they are cute, easy, quick, and cheap - and you can match them to your gift :)

From 11/15:

Discovered a new favorite thing to do for decorating a present - making bows out of magazine pages...love! Once I got the hang of it they are super easy and quick to make.

I know this idea has been around a long time, but it's new to me... my mom always wrapped our presents in newspaper and comics, I'm wondering why she never made these bows - it would have been perfect (and inexpensive!) and she could have got us to make them for her haha. I'm bummed to find out I was deprived of this awesome project as a child :)

Start by cutting a magazine page into 3/4" strips, you'll need 9 total. Leave 3 of them the full size (mine are 10 1/2" long), cut 3 of them to 9 1/2" long, 2 of them 8 1/2" long, and one 3 1/2" long.

You should have:

3 - 10 1/2" x 3/4"

3 - 9 1/2" x 3/4"

2 - 8 1/2" x 3/4"

1 - 3 1/2" x 3/4"

Twist each strip (except the 3 1/2" shortest one) so it has a loop on each end. This step is what took me a minute to figure out - it's almost like making a figure 8. Play with it looking at my picture and you'll get the hang of it. Staple it in the center.

Shape the shortest strip into a circle and hold with a glue dot or double sided tape. This is what you'll have when they are all formed into the loops and circle:

Stack the largest 3 on top of each other like flower petals and staple to hold. Repeat with the next 3, and the remaining 2. This gives you 3 bundles. I used glue dots to then stick the 3 layers together but you could also staple or use double sided tape. Add the circle to the center of the "petals". There you go - magazine bow!