DIY Bows (+ Video)

I am ridiculously excited to share this DIY. Even if you’ve never touched a hot glue gun in your life, I think this is a craft you can still do. It’s super easy and very hard to mess up. Plus, the options are endless. You may have seen the craft already on my Youtube channel if you’re subscribed there!

So the idea behind this DIY started with a purchase of a $30 bow from Nordstrom. It’s so cute (the green and red striped one on the bottom right), but it sold out before I could wear it for a blog post. I wear things that are sold out frequently and just link to similar items. In this case, I realized that it could easily be recreated after a quick trip to the craft store.

In the video, I walk through the whole process. You might prefer the visual of that over photos and text! (I think the video does a better job than I’m doing in the post, yikes!)

What you need:

– Hot glue + hot glue gun

– Grosgrain ribbon

– Sewing scissors (or sharp scissors)

– Fasteners (I bought safety pins and two sizes of barrettes)

– Crystal beads for the brooch

(I bought everything from Michael’s in the crafting/beading section, with the exception of the ribbon.)

The ribbon part of the bow consists of three parts. The base “v” layer and two loops, one longer and one shorter.

For the “V” Layer:

– You’ll want to create a fake “hem” on the ribbon by hot gluing the ends down. You can see in the video that I made a mistake by doing both hems in the same direction. But, because the ribbon folds over itself, you have to the hems on opposite sides, so when it’s flipped, the hems both face the same way. Play around with the length; you can make your bow any size you want!

– For the loops, you’ll just hot glue the ends together to create the loop. Again, play around with the sizes. It’s more trial and error than anything else! Once you glue the ends, I used an iron to flatten the loop and added a dab of glue on the inside so it wouldn’t flop open.

I keep all the parts nearby so I could keep experimenting with lengths. Below is what the three parts look like assembled before I commit to the glue.

I added glue on top of the “v,” then added the longer loop. Then I added a touch of glue and adhered the top loop.

After the ribbon pieces are together, you just glue the pin on the back and the rhinestone brooch in the front. The glue dries super quickly, so the bow is pretty much ready to go right away!

I did a bunch of bows. Once I got started, I couldn’t put the glue gun down. It was so much fun!