Day 22: 24 Days of Green Christmas Crafts – Recycled Paper Bows

I’m sure you’ve had this happened to you before.

It’s almost midnight on Christmas Eve and you are tired and cranky because you were all over the world looking for that toy that  your child has been wishing for. You finally find it in the last toy store, buy it,  and you figured, you can wrap it yourself when you get home.

The cookies and milk are waiting for Santa under the tree and you are barely getting your second wind. You start to wrap all the presents you’ve been hiding all over the house and you find out…you ran out of bows.

Now, I know you can just wrap the darn thing without the bow but it would look so bare and careless.

What. do. you. do?

Make your own bows our of old magazines!  

Believe it or not, you’ve been wasting your money buying bows all these years because these are so easy to make. And what’s better? You can recycle any magazines you have lying around to make them.

See these beautiful bows? My friend Jennifer of Green Earth Goodies has a detailed, step-by-step tutorial with photos, on how to make them. Click on the photos to see the tutorial.

You can use any kinds of paper, even old music sheets like the first one on top.

How about with buttons in the middle like these? Aren’t they cute?

Jennifer stitches the middle with needle and thread to secure the pieces together. You can use glue dots or staples but staples will make it bulky. I made this one by using staples and craft glue. If you don’t have paper cutter, you can use scissors, like I did.

So plan ahead and make them now to save yourself from having a heart attack on Christmas Eve. That won’t be cool. Besides, you should stop wasting your money and buying any more of those cheap plastic ones…even if they are cheap, literally. And use up any paper you were going to recycle anyway and make these yourself.

Thanks Jennifer for sharing your tutorial!

See you tomorrow on Day 23! Sadly, we are almost “there.” Hope you are ready for the big day!