{"title":"How to Make a Bow for a Wreath","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/crafts/how-to-make-a-bow-for-a-wreath","category":{"slug":"crafts","name":"Crafts"},"creator":{"name":"Julie’s Wreath Boutique","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCenS4iXhfgFiDbhstS1ir7g","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44swlikw4kg"},"tldr":"Make a full, even wreath bow from wired ribbon in about five minutes. Measure loops on your mat, twist between each one, then wire and fluff.","totalDurationSeconds":958,"difficulty":"easy","tools":["gridded cutting mat","scissors","floral wire","zip ties","chip clip"],"materials":["2.5-inch wired ribbon","a second coordinating wired ribbon","greenery wreath"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Start With Wired Ribbon and Fold the First Loop","text":"Unroll a length of 2.5-inch wired ribbon and fold the end back on itself to make your first loop. Size it however you like, because this one sets the scale for every loop after it. Wired ribbon matters here: the wire in the edges is what holds a loop open. Unwired ribbon collapses the moment you let go."},{"number":2,"title":"Twist at the Centre So the Right Side Shows","text":"Most ribbon has a printed face and a plain back. Every time you come back to the middle, give the ribbon a half twist so the printed side keeps facing out on the next loop. Skip it and every other loop shows you the back of the ribbon, which is the most common reason a homemade bow looks homemade."},{"number":3,"title":"Measure Eight Inches Against the Mat","text":"Lay the ribbon flat across the grid and count off eight inches, then bring it back to the centre. That gives you a four-inch loop. Using the mat instead of your eye is what makes the finished bow symmetrical, and it costs about two seconds per loop."},{"number":4,"title":"Build Three Loops on Each Side","text":"Keep going: measure out, come back to the middle, twist, repeat. Alternate sides so the loops stack evenly left and right. Three on each side makes a good full bow for a standard wreath. Hold everything pinched at the centre with your thumb and forefinger as you go, and do not worry that the bundle looks like a mess at this stage."},{"number":5,"title":"Add a Longer Loop Either Side","text":"Measure ten inches instead of eight for the last loop on each side. Those two larger loops sit behind the others and frame the bow, which stops it reading as one flat cluster. This is the point where a bow maker earns its keep, because you are now holding a lot of ribbon in one hand."},{"number":6,"title":"Wire the Centre and Pull It Tight","text":"Push a length of floral wire down through the middle of the gathered loops, bring it back up the other side, and pull hard in one direction before twisting the ends together. Pull harder than feels polite. A loose centre is why bows sag, and the wire disappears completely once the loops are fluffed."},{"number":7,"title":"Catch Two Long Tails Under the Wire","text":"Cut a separate length of ribbon about twenty-four inches long, find its centre, and trap it under the same wire so it hangs as two twelve-inch tails. Doing the tails separately rather than working them into the loops lets you set their length and angle on their own, which is much easier to get right."},{"number":8,"title":"Trim the Tails and Fluff Every Loop","text":"Cut the tail ends at a sharp angle or into a V so they do not fray in a straight line. Then work around the bow pulling each loop out and turning it so no two face the same way. Push it wider than looks right. A bow flattens once it is tied to a wreath, so overdo it now."},{"number":9,"title":"For a Layered Bow, Start With a Long Tail","text":"The second style stacks two bows. Start this one differently: pull off ten to twelve inches before your first loop so the tail is built in from the start. Then loop as before, meeting in the middle each time. This ribbon reads the same on both faces, so there is no twisting to do."},{"number":10,"title":"Make a Smaller Bow to Sit on Top","text":"Build a second bow the same way in a contrasting ribbon, but size the loops down. Eight inches of ribbon gives a four-inch loop, which sits neatly inside the larger bow rather than competing with it. Four loops each side is plenty on the top layer."},{"number":11,"title":"Join the Two and Fluff Them Into One","text":"Lay the small bow over the large one, line up the centres, and hold them together with a zip tie while you work. A second zip tie or a twist of wire locks them for good. Snip the ties off afterwards if you like, or leave them, because nothing shows once the loops are open.Then fluff the whole stack as one bow rather than two, pulling loops from both layers out in alternating directions."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-09-05T17:32:42.029Z","published":"2026-09-05T17:32:37.011Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}