The Ultimate Cheater Bow

This is a great cheater bow! And no one will ever guess that it's not real! I'm again using a coaster for the purpose of the tutorial, but you'll be using cardstock.

1. I'm going to get you started: Lie a piece of ribbon across the face of your cardstock and secure it on the back with adhesive. The front will look like a ribbon stripe.


2. Take an additional piece of ribbon (use matching for a cheater bow, use a complimenting color for a decorative touch) and run it under the flat piece.


3. Tie the smaller ribbon in any style you choose. (Check out my X-shaped Bow and How to Tie a Knot That Lies Straight and Flat tutorials for two ways to tie it.) It is now mobile and will slide easily across the flat ribbon so that you can place it wherever you'd like on your project. And we were always taught that cheating wasn't acceptable!

Flat Faux Bow

Here's a third ribbon tying idea. This is super easy and deffinately a cheater bow! All you'll need is a double square, rectangle or circle punch to be used on your cardstock, in addition to your ribbon.

1. Use your punch on your paper so that you have two holes side-by-side. If you don't have a double punch you can fake it by punching a regular punch twice. Just make sure that you get them lined up evenly.


2. Thread your ribbon through the holes so that both tails are on the same side. Note: The tails should be on the BACK of your project and the flat piece should be on the FRONT. Pull snug.


3. Flip the left tail down and to the right.


4. Tuck the right tail into the left hole. Pull snug.


5. Tuck the left ribbon into the right hole. Pull snug.


6. This is what the back of your cardstock should look like now.


7. And this is the front! Trim the ends and it's ready to go, no adhesive needed if it's been pulled snugly. It's a nice bow for masculine cards.

Tying an X-shaped bow

I'm posting a series of ribbon tying tutorials because I've noticed that a lot of people are afraid of ribbon because they don't know how to make a good bow or knot. This is the second posting of ribbon tying. We're going to make an X-shaped bow, so go get a length of ribbon and hurry back to your computer!

1. Hold the ribbon in your hand like this, creating a loose loop shape, with the longest tail off to the left.


2. Bring the long tail up and over the loop.


3. Then bring it around the backside.


4. Next, you're going to push a bit of the ribbon through the loop you've just created, making another loop. Just like tying your shoe...


5. Pull snugly to secure and snip ends. You can make the "ears" of the bow as little or as large as you'd like by pulling the tails and ears accordingly.