Bows are my nemesis. I mean, I can tie my shoes. I have from an early age. But, those big, beautiful Christmas bows on packages? Hard pass from me- I’ll get the ones with the sticky tape, thanks. And while I love the look of ribbon on cards, the idea of making a decent looking bow makes me want to cry. That was until two things entered my life.
My husband made me a bow tying contraption that allows me to make bows any size I want. It’s basically as scrap of wood with holes drilled equal distance apart, and dowels stuck in the holes to wrap the ribbon around. While I do love it, and it’s never far from my desk, I found something easier a couple of years ago, using tools I have had for my whole life…. fingers!
Yup- you read that right. Fingers. They’re the only I have never had to search for in my craft room (just beware of ink on them!) and they can help you tie the perfect single, double, triple, (or more) loop bow.
You might be saying to yourself, “self, that sounds pretty easy,” and rest assured- it is. I don’t do hard, labourious or intense. I want to keep my crafting as easy and stress-free as possible, and the only thing that holds me back from tying is if my hand doesn’t want to cooperate, but usually, since my problem hand is only holding the ribbon, it’s pretty straightforward.
I’ve posted my YouTube video, but in case you follow written instructions better- here you go:
- Hold the end of the ribbon between your thumb and ring finger.
- Loop the ribbon around your index and middle fingers in the shape of an 8. Make sure the ribbon is is not too tight, as that will make it tricky to slide off.
- Do this as many times as you want loops.
- When you have an equal amount of loops on each finger, bring the free end between your fingers, wrap it once over the ribbon, and tie it with the other end to create a knot.
- If you want to fancy it up, you can use two different colours or sizes or ribbon.
I’d love to see what you come up with if you give this a try. Pop over to my VIP group and post a pic!
