DIY Ribbon Bow Maker

I have been making bows for years. I have always measured and created each bow by hand. It's not a particularly easy process, but I developed a system that worked so it's second nature to me now. Lately I've been coming across one particular bow that I wanted to make and could just not figure out how to make the ribbon come out just right for the end result. I searched online for a tutorial to make the bow and I could only find tutorials using a bow maker.

I have seen this bow maker online quite a bit and always thought, "Nah, I don't need that, I'm too cheap to buy it anyway." So today I was finally faced with the fact that I did, in fact, need one. Even if I was willing to part with $20 to buy one, I still had to wait for it to ship and get to me, and I have a craft fair next weekend. I needed it NOW.

I headed down the basement to see if I could find the materials I needed to make this crazy contraption. Sure enough! I found everything I needed and had a bow maker within 10 minutes.

So here is my DIY Bow Maker!

So simple to make:

Materials:

Scrap piece of 2X4 6" or longer

Dowels (size isn't very important as long as you have a drill bit that is just a tad bigger)

Drill

Ruler

Pencil

-Mark a straight line down the center of the 2X4 along the length and width of the board.

-From the center line place a mark at 1", 1.5" 2" etc. (Mine only has marks at 1.5" and 2" because for this project I wanted 3" and 4" bows. I also mis-measured so there is an oops hole :) )

-Drill holes right on the line where you marked. Try to go as far in as you can without going all the way through. One of my holes went all the way through so I put a piece of duct tape along the bottom to stop the dowel from going all the way through when in use.

-Mark the holes with the appropriate measurements, the hole at 1" will make a 2" bow, 1.5" will be a 3" bow, etc.

-Stick the dowels in the right holes and craft away!

I know a bow maker is useless without a bow making tutorial so here is the best one I found online!

http://www.theribbonretreat.com/Catalog/free-hairbow-instructions.aspx

I think you have to like them on Facebook and Pinterest to see the tutorials, but it's well worth it.