Brad Bow

One of my favorite ways to make a bow is to use a brad.  I first saw these cute bows on Mary aka stampercamper's cards.  She has a picture tutorial on her blog as well, but I've had some questions about them myself lately so I decided to put together a quick tutorial. Here are some cards featuring brad bows.

Gingham ribbon with a small, polka dot brad

Organdy ribbon with a corduroy brad

Seam binding with a small silver brad

Shoe lace type string with a small brad.

This is the card I made today by doodling onto a piece of dp to add color and definition to the flowers, stems and leaves. Today's color challenge is Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette and Soft Sky with a dessert of butterflies. The bow is natural trim with an Antique Brad.

Flip your brad over and open the prongs as widely as you can.

Take the left end of your ribbon and fold toward the right.

Now fold the right side over the left.

Lay the folded ribbon over your opened brad.

Push the ribbon down into the space between the prongs. Then fold the prongs down over the ribbon. You can carefully pull on the ends to position them downward.

Here's the finished bow.