Gift Bows Created From Trash

Do you know that you can recycle old magazines, catalogs, or newspaper ads into gift bows like this?

I saw the idea online somewhere. It's really easy once you get the hang of it. All you need is an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet ripped from a magazine or other source, brads, a hole punch, and scissors or a paper trimmer. If you have a regular size hole punch, you will need large brads with a top big enough to not pop through the hole. If you have a small hole paper punch(found in the scrapbooking section) you can use smaller sized brads.

I used a Kohl's jewelry ad for mine. Who doesn't like a bow made out of diamonds? I also used these star brads that I had from my scrapbooking supply.

First step is to cut the paper into nine strips. Cut across the shorter side so your paper strips are 8-1/2" long. If you have a paper trimmer, this step is super quick. If you have to use scissors, it will take a bit longer.

Next make a loop at one end by flipping and wrapping the end of the paper around to the back.

Repeat on the other end, reversing the direction the paper is looped under so it looks like this.

Carefully punch a hole through the center of the looped paper strip. Add your brad so that the pointy ends stick out the back. The back is what you see in this photo below.

Keep repeating this step with the remaining paper strips. Move the loops around as you add each layer to create a nice, even bow. It is a bit tricky to hold all the loops on as you add the new layer. You keep adding layers onto the bottom and pushing the first layer towards the top of the brad.

When you are finished the bottom should look like this:

The top should look like this. You can see the top of my star brad if you look closely in the middle.

That's all there is to it. You can use any type of paper that you want. I thought it was a clever idea to make bows out of things you might throw away.

Linking up the Shabby Chic Cottage: