Christmas Bow Wreath | Easy DIY Christmas Wreath Made with Gift Bows

This Christmas bow wreath is SO PRETTY!! Attach colourful gift bows to a wreath form for a simple and festive homemade holiday decoration.

You can make this DIY Christmas wreath in 1 hour or less, and you can find all the supplies at the dollar store! This winter project is really easy to make, and we love how cheery the gift bow wreath looks hanging on the front door!

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Helpful Tips:

1. If you’re worried about the styrofoam showing through the bows, wrap the wreath form in a complimentary colour of ribbon or fabric before gluing on the bows.
2. Use a low temperature glue gun if possible. High temperature glue guns make the ribbon curl up, plus it’s a lot easier to burn yourself. (Not that we’re talking from experience, or anything…)
3. You can also stick the ribbon hanger into the wreath with thumb tacks.

What size wreath is this Christmas bow wreath?

We made a larger 14 inch wreath and a smaller 10 inch wreath. The smaller wreath is what you see in the step by step photo and video tutorials. We definitely like the look of the larger wreath for a front door, but the small one is cute as well!

How many bows do you need to make a Christmas bow wreath?

We used 55 gift bows on our larger 14 inch wreath. There were 3 different sizes of bows from assorted packages.

We recommend having at least 70 bows on hand, if not more. This will give you a good variety of colours, and you’ll have extra in case some of the bows are crushed.

For our smaller 10 inch wreath we used 36 bows, but, again, we recommend having at least 50 bows to choose from.

Do I have to remove the backs of the bows for this gift bow wreath?

We definitely recommend removing the whole back of the gift bow – the part you’d typically attach to presents.

First, if you just add glue to the back of the bow as is, you have no control over whether the bow’s adhesive will fail. If the paper lets loose from the sticky part of the bow, the bow will fall right off your wreath.

Second, you can remove the back paper part and add hot glue to the sticky back of the bow. This works, because the tag is stapled to the bow, but we still don’t recommend it.

This way makes it harder to control where the bow sits on the wreath form. The paper sticks well to the styrofoam, but the bow itself can come up off the wreath and look weird. They just don’t sit right.

So, yes, we recommend removing the whole backing from the bow. It’s more time consuming, but it’s still the best way to do it. Occasionally a staple might fall off, but if this happens, simply staple the ribbon bow back together before attaching it to the wreath.

How can I hang up my DIY Christmas bow wreath?

We have a wreath hanger on our door, and think the ribbon hanger looks great on there. If you don’t have a special hanger, you can also hang the wreath on a command hook. On an interior door you can even hang the wreath from a push pin.

What if I don’t have a foam wreath form?

You should be able to find a foam wreath form easily, if you don’t already have one. They’re easy to find at craft stores or online, and we even bought our smaller wreath at the dollar store.

Otherwise you can also use a straw wreath or a wire wreath frame. You could even cut down a pool noodle and glue it together into a wreath shape.

A Christmas bow wreath is so much fun to make and the final result is super cheerful! Choose gift bows to match your winter decor, or make a multi-colored wreath like ours. Either way, your gift bow wreath will be an awesome way to welcome people to your home this holiday season!

Here’s even more DIY Christmas ideas:

Snowy Mason Jars

Salt Dough Ornaments

DIY Snow Globe

Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!