How to Make a Paper Bow

Every bow is one strip six inches long. The width sets the size:

• Wider bow: 3/4 inch by 6 inches
• Slimmer bow: 1/2 inch by 6 inches

You also need one narrow strip of a coordinating paper, about 1/4 inch wide. That one wraps around the middle at the end and it only needs to be about three inches long.

Lay the strip along the scoring board with the six inch edge running against the ruler.

Getting this square matters. A strip that sits at even a slight angle scores off square, and the bow ends up lopsided in a way you cannot correct later.

Score across the strip at 1 1/4 inches, 3 inches and 4 3/4 inches.

Both bow sizes use these same three numbers, which is the neat part of this method. Only the width changes. The 3 inch mark is the centre, and the other two sit an equal 1 3/4 inches either side of it, so the bow comes out symmetrical without measuring anything twice.

Fold the strip in half at the centre score, bringing the two ends together.

Crease it firmly. The next cut goes through both layers at once, which is what makes the two sides match.

With the strip still folded, snip a small angled cut in from each edge toward the fold, stopping before you reach the middle.

Leave a decent bridge of paper uncut in the centre. That bridge is holding the whole bow together, so cut too far and the strip falls into two pieces.

Fold the strip back on the two outer score lines and make the same angled cuts at those folds. Then open the whole thing back out flat.

You should be looking at a straight strip with matched notches nipped into both edges at three points. Those notches are what let the paper pinch inward and hold the bow shape.

Run the strip over the barrel of a pen or the handle of a paintbrush, pulling gently to put a curve into each half.

This is what stops the finished bow looking flat and folded. Curved paper holds a loop shape once glued instead of creasing into a hard triangle.

Put a small amount of glue at the centre fold, then fold the right end back into the middle so its notch lines up with the centre score. Do the same with the left.

The moment both ends are in, it stops being a strip and reads as a bow.

Pinch the middle and hold. Liquid craft glue wants thirty seconds or so; hot glue grabs almost immediately.

Let go early and the curved paper springs the loops back open.

Turn the bow over, add a dab of glue on the back where the two ends meet, and lay the narrow coordinating strip across it. Bring it up over the front, around the middle and back down, then trim the excess and glue the end down at the back.

It does two jobs. It hides the join where the ends meet, and it locks the whole structure together.

Optional and worth doing. Snip a small V into the end of each tail.

It takes two seconds and it is the difference between a bow that looks cut from a strip and one that looks finished.

The bow is done. Pinch the loops up if it has gone flat, or press it down deliberately if you want a flat bow that sits under a card in an envelope.

Add a flat-back pearl, a small paper flower or a tiny brad in the centre if you want more. Stick them onto cards, gift tags, library pockets, envelope closures or the front of a journal page.