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Beautiful bows created in a flash

Step-by-step instructions

Just finished wallpapering and still have wallpaper left over? Zero waste is the buzz word! Before you throw your left-over wallpaper in the bin, think about using it for a handicraft project. How about beautiful handmade bows? These eye-catching bows made of wallpaper are perfect as decorations and they can also be used as gift packaging.

List of tools 

List of materials 

1. Fold the sheet vertically, horizontally and diagonally. Make sure that the side you want to see later is facing you in this step. 

2. Fold the paper together to create a small, tilted diagonal with the tip pointing towards you. Then fold the tip over. 

3. Now carefully unfold the paper again. The folded tip creates a square in the middle. Press the sides of the small square again to make the fold more defined. 

4. Press down the centre of the square and fold the paper. 

5. Next, fold the wings forward on both sides to create a uniform tip.

6. In the next step, carefully unfold the sheet again. Take care not to damage the little square in the middle. Then cut the four folds up to just before the edge, as you can see in the illustration. 

7. Now fold down the tip to create the shape shown on the illustration. 

8. Now fold the tips on the right and left sides. 

9. To fix everything, we now need to glue the two sides of paper together. This helps to avoid overlaps when we start folding.

10. Now make a cut in the centre. 

11. You’re almost done: you now need to fold the bows. 

12. Use the same folding technique on both sides. 

13. Turn the bow over and fold the tip over. Then slide it under the knot to make it more stable.

14. Finally cut out a triangle at the bottom. 

You’re done! You might like to paint and design the bows, or just use them as they are. 

List of tools for this creative technique

  • Scissors 
  • Stanley knife 
  • Glue stick 

List of materials

  • ERFURT wallpaper remnants measuring 20x20 cm