Recycling your handmade paper bag gift bows

5. Make Your Own Bows

Recycling your handmade paper bag gift bows from last year is something that most of us do. But, after a few times, these bows start to look a little ragged around the edges. When they look a little frazzled, you need to make more bows. It is really easy to make bows with scrap paper. If you have gift wrap that you have saved from last year, this works great also.

Here are some easy instructions to make wonderful gift bows:

Cut your scrap paper or used wrapping paper into strips that measure 4 inches long by 1 inch wide. Take each strip and fold in half with the pretty side out. It should form a nice loop. Tape the closed end to the outer edge of a cardboard circle. Cereal boxes work really good for this. The size of the circle is up to you. It just depends on how big you want the bow to be and how much paper you have.

Continue cake boxes design folding and taping the strips, working around the cardboard circle until you have the circle complete filled. Then, end with a single loop in the center, closed end down. Or, you can also put a pine cone or other eco friendly item in the center to complete the bow.

These are just a few ideas to get you started making your own wrapping paper and gift bows. As you do this more and more, you can experiment and come up with many of your own original ideas.