"Green" never looked so festive...

We all have those magazines laying around...the ones we don't ask for but somehow end up in our mailboxes...sometimes three a day! I know I have tons hanging around all over my coffee table waiting for me to peruse them or get rid of them, but I always have a hard time tossing them out. It's paper no-less, and we all know how I feel about paper. Anyway, the other day I sat down to watch one of my favorite shows, and wouldn't you know it, it's a repeat. So, I pick up one of those catalogs and start browsing through only to find that everything inside is way out of my price range. What to do with it? Why not recycle it, but into what? I thought with all the colors on the pages they would make great bows, so I took a store bought bow apart and was amazingly surprised at how easy they are to make. I started in and after about twenty minutes I had four already done.

My two oldest daughters, ages 7 and 9, also made a few for their teachers. They are just that simple to make.

Supplies you will need:

Magazine page

Scissors

paper fastener/brad

something sharp

double sided foam tape that can be cut to size

Step 1:

*Cut your magazine page into roughly 8 or 9 strips. Perfection is not necessary.

*Take one strip and cut approximately two inches off the top so it's shorter than the rest. This will be the first strip you start with.

Step 2:

*Loop the strip like shown. *Flip it over and loop the other end.

Step 3.

Poke a hole through the middle and slip it onto your paper fastener/brad.

Step 4.

Continue looping the rest of the strips and adding them one by one to the back of the first.

You can add more strips or less depending on your preference. Once you have all the strips you want, just split the prongs on the brad to secure.

Step 5.

Place a piece of double sided foam tape to the back so that it can be attached to a package easily at a later date.

And there you have it. Beautiful bows from all those over-priced sales catalogs.

Please post a link to the bows you've created!!

Thanks for spending some time with me! Have a great day!

Hugs,

M.