Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog: All the Pretty Bows

Saturday, June 24, 2023

All the Pretty Bows

Hello, everyone! It is Gloria with you today. Thank you so much for joining me today! I want to talk about bows...because I use a lot of them! I not only use bows on my cards and mini albums, but occasionally on scrapbook layouts, and most definitely on off the page creations, but my new favorite way to use ribbons and bows is on counted cross stitch projects!

As I have gotten back into stitching (after over 20 years away), I have had to find low cost ways to finish the completed stitching. Well, I have a lot of scrapbook paper and A LOT of ribbon! Why not make a marriage out of those things and create some easel style stitching projects...with BOWS?!

As always, I start with my Bow-It-All tool, which is how I create prefect bows nearly every time! I had just received a few packages of ribbon from the RRR store, so I put those out to see if there were any colors I could use, and I ironed my finished stitching. (The orange border around the stitching is just some painters tape I used to keep the material from fraying.)

Step two is to mount my stitching onto chipboard. I cut a piece of chipboard to about 1" larger than my stitching, which gives me 1/2" on all sides for a border. I added batting between the chipboard and the fabric, then wrapped the fabric round the board and secured with double-stick tape.

Note: My stitching is 5 5/8" x 5 3/8", so I cut the chipboard to 6 5/8" x 6 3/8".

Next I cut two more pieces of chipboard for the easel. Both pieces are 7 5/8" x 7 3/8". I also cut a piece of sturdy white cardstock to 7 5/8" x 2" and scored it at 1" on the two-inch side to make a hinge.

I cut two pieces of printed paper to 9 5/8" x 9 3/8" to wrap the chipboard. I then cut two more pieces to 7 5/8" x 7 3/8" to cover the backs of the wrapped pieces. Once assembled it is a paper covered, chipboard easel.

I used hot glue to attach the mounted stitching to the easel. You could use magnets or hook and loop tape if you did not want to put glue onto the finished piece of stitching. This is just a fun thing to display, not an heirloom, so I did not care about the glue!

I then chose some ribbons for my bow, trying to color match the thread I used for stitching.

I used 5/8" Mineral Ice Taffeta ribbon to create a wide bow with three loops. The bow is nearly six inches wide! Next I created a smaller bow from 3/16" Red Plaid ribbon, which also comes in the 3/16" Plaid Assortment. I like buying the assortments when there is something I want to try, but I am not sure I want to buy a lot of it yet. The 3/16" ribbons are a YES, and I plan to buy more colors and styles!

The smaller bow has five loops and measures about three inches. I hot glued the plaid bow to the longer, blue bow. Then, I cut the prongs off a cloth covered brad, and glued it to the top of the bows.

Isn't this adorable?! I love the blue plaid peeking out from the easel, and it is a lovely contrast to the red gingham on the front of the easel and on the plaid ribbon.

Here is what the back of the ease looks like. This is slightly smaller than 10" x 10" and will fit perfectly on my front room sideboard!

Using ribbon for home décor is a such a nice way to either create some seasonal color schemes, as I did here, or to color match your existing decorations. I really enjoy the different textiles and mediums together, as it looks inviting and touchable!