QUICK BOW TUTORIAL with Lisa Carroccio (The Domestic Diva)

Here’s a quick & easy Bowdabra Tutorial …

Get out your junky craft scissors and some florist wire. Cut a piece about 12 inches long.

Place the wire through the center of the Bowdabra.

Leaving 12_ for the tail of the bow, cinch ribbon between the holder.

Make a loop and twist it away from you…then place in between the holder.

Make as many loops as you want as long as you have the same amount of loops on each side. I usually do 6 or 8 loops in total.

Cut the ribbon leaving another 12 inch ribbon tall.

Cross the wire and twist tightly. Then fluff your bow.

And if you don’t dovetail the ends of the ribbon, everyone will think you are an amateur…
Fold the ribbon end in half lengthwise (do not crease it). Cut across at an angle to form the dovetail end.

GIFT WRAPPING with Lisa Carroccio (The Domestic Diva)

I hope you don’t think I’m mental, but my favorite holiday activity is GIFT WRAPPING. I “try” to wrap each night as new purchases come into my home. It helps to have a “gift wrapping station” set up in your home…a simple table with all the supplies you need to wrap gifts. My station has several holiday gift papers on rolls which are contained in a Rubbermaid™ Gift Wrap Holder.





I keep several rolls of fancy gold and ivory ribbon, tulle, my handy dandy Bowdabra™ (the Diva’s bow-making secret), place cards (used as gift tags), scotch tape (on the big rolls in the office tape dispenser), plain white boxes, tons of gold gift bags, gold Calligraphy markers and my hot glue gun. Each gift, no matter, how small, is wrapped with care and is adorned with a nice bow.



Stuck in the center of the bows are simple “holiday picks” such as silk flowers, ribbon roses, faux sugared berries, miniature ornaments, rhinestone buttons or some other glittered item. Year after year, my sisters fight over my bows as gifts are unwrapped on Christmas Day. They reuse them the following year to make their gifts “sparkle.”





Every year I designate a specific color and/or theme to each of my two kids. That way I don’t have to put name tags on them until Christmas Eve and the kids’ don’t know which gifts are theirs.



In the past, I’ve used some great color combinations for my teen daughter such as polka dots, zebra prints and tiffany blue. This year I’m using hot pink and black/white houndstooth for my daughter. My son will get either brown or turquoise blue depending on which wrapping paper I have the most of this year.



When gift wrapping, don’t restrict yourself to just ordinary white boxes. Get creative! I’ve used colored Chinese take-out boxes, fancy hat boxes and different baskets. If you’re going to be lazy and use gift bags, be sure to at least add a beautiful bow and handmade gift tag.


Also, don’t be afraid to use non-traditional colors. As a matter of fact, I NEVER use any red in my house. Any color can become a Christmas color is you add sparkle to it.

These beautiful bows are BURSTING with color! Red and Hot Pink with crystals mingle together to create a symphony of hairbow heaven! Designed by Emmasaxton and available on eBay for the Glamsquad ‘Color my World’ launch (June 12-19th)!

Click to bid on these spectacular hairbows >

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