DIY Paper Bows

These paper bow templates are perfect for customized gift-giving all year round. In this tutorial, I will show you how to make a gift bow out of paper.

I remember when I was a kid, I used to buy bags of those metallic looped ribbon bows with the stick on the pad at the base during the holidays and stick them on everything.

My taste has since changed (hopefully for the better) and those generic bows just won’t do any more for my presents.

These days, when I want to add that extra special touch, I make my own paper bow to add on top of the packaging. The best part of making your own bows is being able to color coordinate and customize the paper print that you use.

I have a few different paper bow templates I use depending on the package. I also like to mix and match the base ribbon shape with the top bow piece. You can also play around with various colored and printed cardstock.

Regardless, even the simplest one makes any present extra special.

Materials for Making Bows out of Paper

Cardstock – I find a medium to lightweight cardstock works best for paper bows. The heavier cardstock doesn’t flex as well. Here are some of my favorite brands:

• Neenah Assorted Starter Pack – Basic assorted colors, great starter pack, perfect weight for most papercraft projects
• Cardstock Warehouse Brand on Amazon – I love the quality of all the matte-colored cardstock with Cardstock Warehouse. It is my go-to brand for individual matte colors that I might need
• Green Assorted Variety Pack – I love this variety pack of green, it is perfect for any foliage making.
• Pinks Assorted Variety Pack – This is a great starter pack of various shades of pink and even a red.
• Purple Assorted Variety Pack – This is another essential variety pack of every shade of purple you might need
• Stardream Metallics Line – For paper crafts, the Stardream line is the go-to for a metallic shimmer finish. It is the perfect sheen to make any project pop. The core is also colored is which hard to find for metallic paper.

Cricut – I use a cutting machine to do some of the cutting for this project. This of course is optional but it sure makes things go faster. Check out my reviews for Best Cricut machines for beginners if you’re new to the Cricut.

Templates – These paper bow templates are available in both SVG and printable PDF formats for free in my resource library.

How to make a paper gift bow

Step 1: Cut out the pieces using the bow template

Step 2: Glue the bow ribbon ends together

I like to use as little glue as I can for this part because the more you use the longer it takes to dry. I just dag a bit in the center of the strip and dip the ends in this before pressing it together to dry.

Step 3: Glue the layers together

If you get impatient, you can always paper clip the piece together while it is drying so you don’t have to stand around and wait.

Once the layers are secured, glue the center piece in place to secure the layers.

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