wire cutters or old scissors
a length of florist's wire about 20 inches long (longer or shorter depending on whether or not you are going to use the wire to attach the ribbon when you use it)
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Step 1. Lay your ribbon flat out on a work surface. Leaving a tail at one end (which will become one of the tails on the finished bow). Start to accordion fold the ribbon back and forth. The length of the folds will determine the size of the loops on your bow, so you can accordion fold according to how big you want your bow to be. For the bow in the photo we left a tail of about a foot and made each length in the accordion fold about 15 inches.
Step 2. Continue to accordion fold the ribbon back and forth.
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Step 3. Make at least four loops on each side of the center (at least that's what we did for the photos, you could use, two, three, four or even more, just cut your ribbon length longer or shorter). You should end up with a tail on the second end that is about the same length as the tail you started with.
4. Grab the ribbon in the center of the loops and tie around it with the florist's wire
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Step 5. Twist the end of the florist's wire to secure it.
Step 6. Take the top loose tail and loosely wrap it around
the center wires to make a loop that will be the center of the ribbon (see
photo of bow on wreath). You can make this loop as small or as big as loose
as you like, depending on how tightly you wrap it. Let the tail drape to towards
the bottom. 7.
8.
Step 7. Bring the wire up through the middle of the center loop and twist to secure it behind the bow.
Step 8. Cut the two ends of the ribbons up at a slight angle to produce a "dovetail" end like in the photo. Fluff out and arrange the ribbons and loops and you have a gorgeous finished bow, ready to be attached to a package, a wreath, a mantle or anywhere else you want to add a touch of decor.
Ribbon Lengths Needed to Make a Bow
The following chart will give you an approximate idea of how much ribbon length you will need to make a bow. The measurements are approximate, as you may want to make your bow larger or smaller. But this should give you a ballpark idea of what it takes to make a medium-large sized four loop bow.
| Width of Ribbon | Approximate Length of Ribbon |
| 1/2 inch | 1 1/2 yards |
| 1 inch | 2 1/2 yards |
| 1 1/2 inch | 3 yards |
| 2 inch | 4 yards |
| 2 1/2 inch | 5 yards |
| 3 inch | 6 yards |
Big Bows, like the one we used on the wine cork wreath in the photo, are easy to make and have a multitude of uses. Put them on packages, have them adorn flower arrangements or table centerpieces, drape them on furniture during the holidays -- use your imagination!
