Sunday, June 14, 2009

Paper Bows...

I love to give matching homemade cards and gifts for birthdays. Something I've been lacking on is the packaging. Usually I'll just throw them in a bag or a box. Sometimes I'll wrap them. That's why I was so excited when I found this tutorial on how to make paper bows.

I made this matching notebook and card to give to my daughter's friend for her birthday. We also included a washer necklace and anklet and some flower clips. They probably didn't even notice, but I love how the matching bow tied everything together!

And here's a shot of the dressed up box from the front.

Here's another example of matching the bow to one of my cards. This one was for my little sister. She's been wanting some M&M cookies, so I made some for her on her birthday and dressed up this plain styrofoam box with a cute paper bow.

After making the bows with scrapbook paper, I wondered what they would look like using newspapers or ads. We like to recycle our paper at our house, but reusing it to make something cute saves me a trip to the recycling bin.

This one is made from a newspaper.

It's hard to tell, but this one came from a shoe ad.

I loved the colors of this ad. I think it was for a local health food store.

The possibilities for this are endless. I think these bows would look great using the Sunday comics...I've got to find someone who subscribes to the paper so I can steal theirs! Also, these would look so cute on Christmas gifts using Christmas themed scrapbook paper! Or for Valentine's Day, or Easter....you get the idea!

5 comments:

Char @ Crap I've Made said...

I LOVE these!

RootsAndWingsCo said...

I love this idea! I make my matching bows from the wrapping paper. You know how you always have extra bits of wrapping paper? Well I cut them into large squares or rectangles. Then, I slice them up every 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch, not cutting along the top edge so all the danglie pieces stay attached as one piece. Then, curl each strip separately. They curl right up like curling ribbon does. I put a couple of these together and they make a really cute matching poof on top of your package!

Rebecca

Dominguezfam said...

I have lots of comics! I always save them for gift wrap! LMK when your going to your moms & I'll bring some to you! Those are cute!!

Sarah said...

thanks for sharing-- i will definitley try this!!!

Anonymous said...

Those are so cute!!!! Thanks for the fabulous ideas!