Paper Bow from Recycled Gift-Wrap

Ready to use up those odd, left-over pieces of wrapping paper (the ones that are too small to wrap anything) to make cute, coordinating gift bows?

You will need:

• Wrapped gifts needing a bit of decoration
• Leftover gift paper, in a rectangle shape (rough shape is fine, no need to be perfect)
• Needle and heavy-duty thread
• Scissors
• Paper-cutter with a decorative edge blade or a pair of fancy-cut scissors used for scrapbooking
• Buttons
• Thimble
• Tape
  
• Recent tetanus shot (only if you are insanely clumsy like I am)
  

Step 1: Roll up the rectangle of paper. The edges don't have to be perfect (as you can see by my picture). Trim the rectangle with the plain scissors if needed. The uneven bits along the edge will be trimmed away in the next step, but if you are like me and get big funky curves or triangles in your gift wrap, you will need to just cut those off. It will be quicker to cut through several layers at once, which is why we are rolling it up. Do not crease the paper, but don't worry if it "smooshes" a bit flat in the next step.

(don't forget: you can click on any of the pictures in the tutorial to get a larger view,
should you need a close-up)

Step 2: Trim just the edge piece. You should use your fancy cutter for this step. I used a zig-zag blade on my cutter, but you could also use a pair of pinking shears or fancy scissors used in scrap booking. Trim as little as possible, but enough to remove all the uneven edges.

Step 3: Cut along the tube to make two different widths of paper strips. A few should be between 1" and 2" (2.5 - 5 cm) thick. These will be to wrap around the gift itself. The remainder (and the vast majority) should be between 1/4" and 3/4" (.5 - 2 cm). While you can just eyeball the measurements in and not be exact, try to keep the fatter strips all the same thickness and the thinner strips all the same thickness. It doesn't have to be dead-on exact, but do your best to keep them fairly consistent.

Step 4: Using a fatter strip of paper, wrap the gift wrapped present around its middle. If your strips are too short, you may have to tape two together to ensure it goes all the way around the present. Set the package aside. While you are at it, thread the needle, knot the end, and place it aside as well.

Step 5: Select between 6 and 8 of the thinner strips. Trim them with the plain scissors to roughly the same length. An ideal size is between 6" and 9"(15 - 23 cm) long. Take the first strip and fold the edge over towards the middle to make a loop. Keep the pretty side of the paper facing out, and the plain white side facing in. Repeat for the other side. You should now have a "figure-8" looking piece of paper. Be sure the ends overlap by about a thumb's width in the center (see the picture for an example).

Step 6: This is the really fiddly bit. You need to repeat the same figure-8 process with the next strip of paper. Stack this figure-8 on top of the previous figure-8, holding both in the middle where the ends have overlapped. Repeat this process for all the other strips: make a figure-8, stack, make a figure-8, stack. Be sure to slightly rotate the figure-8's as you place them one by one in the stack. If you think of a clock, your first piece should be at noon and 6, the second piece at 2 and 8, the third piece at 3 and 9, etc.

While the exact placement of the loops doesn't need to be all that perfectly spaced, you do need to be sure that all the ends are tucked safely under your thumb and meet up in that middle section. Don't worry about smooshed loops at this time. Keep telling yourself it is supposed to be a bit wonkey. It's crafty chic, not robot assembly line perfect.

Step 7: Now for the dangerous part. You need to push the needle through the center, from the top/front of the bow towards the bottom/back of the bow. Normally when you sew you want to hide the knot, so you start on the underside. In this case, the future button will hide the knot so we start on the top. See? There is method in my madness.

Please, please, please be sure you are extra, extra, extra careful. You really have to shove that needle through the several layers of paper and if your thumb is in the way.... eeek! I shudder to think. I managed to make over a dozen of these and haven't stabbed myself once which, considering my track record, is pretty amazing. If you do manage to poke yourself it will be a fairly deep stab wound. You should have your tetanus booster up-to-date, just in case. Yes, I do get this paranoid. Often.

Step 8: Now that the needle is on the bottom/back of the bow, you need to shove it back through to the top/front of the bow making a small stitch. Pull snugly, but not too hard. You don't want that knot popping through the paper and having to start all over again!

Step 9: Starting on the bottom of the button, push the needle through one hole. Then push the needle through the opposite hole, this time working from front to back. You have your first stitch through the button now! Once more, take your needle and press through all layers of the bow from the top/front to the bottom/back.

note: See how my needles is already bending from the pressure?
Please be careful!

If your button has two holes, you simply knot the thread and trim. If your button has four holes (like mine), you will need to repeat steps 8 and 9 again, this time using the two remaining holes on the button. The final stitch on the button will look like the letter X.

Step 10: Woo hoo! The hardest/fiddliest/trickiest parts are over! Pull off a small piece of tape, make a loop with the sticky part facing out, and stick it on the bottom of the bow.

Step 11: Gently press the bow onto the package, on top of the strip you made earlier. I press the button one good time to make sure the center of the bow is stuck fast to the present. Making a beeping noise as you push the button is totally optional.

Step 12: Remember how I said not to worry about smooshed loops? We are going to fix those now. If they are wide enough, run your finger through to pop them back out. You may have to use a pencil if your loops are too small for your finger.

And....................... done!