How To Make Simple DIY Poinsettia Bows For Christmas Gift Wrapping

When I was in the 9th grade, I spent a day gift wrapping presents at a local sporting goods store for a fundraiser for my high school flag team. It was the last weekend for buying presents before Christmas, and all day long we wrapped and wrapped and wrapped gifts, mostly for men who thought their wives would like the types of gifts you can buy at sporting goods store. I remember wrapping things like long underwear, tackle boxes and bear spray and wondering if these were the things their wives really asked for or if they were shopping within their “comfort zone”. Anyways, I regress. The thing that I remember the most about this experience was that the day went on forever and the pile of presents to wrap seemed unending. At the end of the day I went home and went straight to bed. That evening I came down with a flu that would knock me out through Christmas and I remember having these horrible, fever dreams of a never ending pile of presents that I, alone, had to gift wrap. After that Christmas the fun of gift wrapping wore off, and it hasn’t been something that I’ve really loved since then. 

I think some people are natural born gift wrappers. They produce the most beautifully wrapped gifts, the kinds of presents that you almost don’t want to open, because they are so pretty and you don’t want to be the one to end the prettiness. I find that these “natural born gift wrappers” are the same people who excel at flower arranging. My mom and sister fall into this category. I do not. 

We celebrate Christmas each year with my parents and my sister. I have to confess, when I’m wrapping gifts for my family I almost want to throw them into a gift bag, stuff some tissue paper in around it, and call it a day. I know no matter how hard I try, my gift wrapping won’t hold a candle to that of my mom and my sister. 

I don’t think that people outside of my family notice my lack of gift wrapping skills. One of the things that sets my presents apart from others are my DIY Poinsettia Bows– a crafting skill I learned from my mother. Today I’m going to share this little trick with you all, in the hopes that someone out there is feeling as sucky as me about their gift wrapping skills and this will help elevate them to a new level. 😉  It’s a great way to use up leftover wrapping paper and Christmas scrapbooking paper. Once you learn this easy DIY you’ll be making poinsettia bows for all of your gifts!

Read on to learn how to make super simple DIY poinsettia bows for gift wrapping.

How To Make Super Simple DIY Poinsettia Bows For Gift Wrapping

Materials

-Pieces of wrapping paper, colored cardstock, or Christmas themed cardstock. You will need 3 pieces approximately 6 inches long by 2 inches wide

-Scissors

-Swizzy Ribbon

-Tape (to attach bow to present)

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut your paper to the correct size. This doesn’t need to be exact. You can really make these flowers to be any size that you would like. I usually make mine to be approximately 6 inches long by 2 inches wide.

Step 2:  Fold your paper in half lengthwise so that your paper is now 6 inches long by 1 inch wide. If you are using patterned paper or wrapping paper the design should be on the inside. 

Step 3: Stack your paper on top of each other and fold the stack in half widthwise so that it’s 3 inches long by 1 inch wide.

Step 4: Cut out a petal shape. You can pre-trace this if you would like, or just cut it. As shown in my image above, the edge of the petal should be towards the outside of the paper and the center should be where the fold is. Leave a space at the center of the flower that is approximately 1/4 inch so that when you unfold the flower the 2 sides of the petal are connected.

Step 5: Open the paper petals and lay the petals stacked one on top of the other. Tie a piece of swizzle ribbon around the center so that they are all held together.

Step 6: Now is the part that my mom calls “playing mother nature”. Open your petals, giving them each a bit of a pinch towards the center of the petal so that the petals all fall open.

Step 7: Swizz your ribbon so that it’s curly. Using tape, attach your poinsettia bow to your present. 

Whenever I see poinsettia bows it takes me right back to my childhood. I love that it’s a tradition that my mom passed to me, that I’ve now taught to my own children. I hope that these pretty little flower bows become a tradition in your home too!

Tell me… What Christmas traditions have been passed down in your family. Do you have any DIY projects that you do in your home each holiday season?

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