How to make a florist poly ribbon bow

What you will need:

• Scissors- Any kind will do but the ones I'm using are florist scissors.
• Roll of Poly Ribbon- Any colour will do, one I'm using is navy blue. Poly ribbon is available in most craft shops or florists.
• Wire- If you are going to use a bow in an arrangement then you will need to have some wire at the ready. You can get wire from any florist shop or online mostly.

Large Poly ribbon bow:

Step 1:

I start off by grabbing my roll of poly ribbon and reel off a long enough length, this will be used for tieing our bow together. Once I've done this I cut off that long length. 

Step 2:

Once you have cut off that length I then start to tear off a smaller thickness of poly ribbon from the top all the way down. Its good to tear the top bit and follow it all the way down by using your finger. Once you have done this you should have a smaller thickness length and a bigger bit. (The smaller thickness ribbon we will be using to tie our large poly ribbon bow, the bigger thickness ribbon we will use for our small wired bow.)

Step 3:

I then grab the roll of poly ribbon, reel a decent length off and then proceed to make my bow. To start the first loop you hold the end of the poly ribbon in your hand and make a loop so it crosses over the start of the ribbon like so: 

Step 4:

I then follow this round and create another loop which ends up overlapping our first loop in the middle like so: 

Step 5:

I then proceed to create another set of loops. This step is easier to do if you point the top of the bow towards you. create your first loop by folding it back on itself. Create the second loop by looping it forward so it crosses back over the middle again. the overall look should be like the last picture. You can either have two sets of loops or continue on as many times as you like. I have done three sets of loops so just carry on and make another set.

Step 6:

Once you have created your bow, proceed to pinching together the middle of the bow. This makes it easier to tie. Once you have pinched the middle of the bow with your free hand grab the smaller thickness bit of poly ribbon that you cut earlier and knot it around the bow to keep its shape. (I normally tie this by using my pinky on my free hand and my mouth as it is better to keep the bow pinched until it has been securely tied).

Finished product:

Once I have cut the reel of poly ribbon away from the bow, I cut the two tails of the bow at an angle to make the bow look extra special, You can have the tails as long or as short as you would like. 

This is what the bow looks like from the front and the back once completed:

Small wired poly ribbon bow:

Step 1:

For this small wired bow instead of using a small thickness of poly ribbon to tie later on you will need to reel off enough length of wire instead. Cut off enough to go around the bow and to give you enough room to poke it into an arrangement or tie to something else once finished. (I approx cut around 20cm.)

Step 2:

Proceed to make your first and second loop with the bigger thickness of poly ribbon that you left cut earlier. If you wish to have more than one set of loops the proceed to add more but I normally find anymore than one set of loops makes the bow too big for the arrangement. (refer to step 5 of the larger bow if your stuck)

Step 3:

Once you have created your bow, pinch the middle of the bow together and proceed to tie it around with wire. When I use wire, I loop the wire around first and then basically push the bow towards me whilst holding the wire, this makes it easier to keep the shape of the bow and is easier to twist the wire.

Finished product and both of them shown together:

Once you have finished tieing the bow, cut the two tails at an angle again. This is what it will look like once finished:

Here are the two bows together:

4ft Cross for a funeral order

My review on a recent 4ft cross:

Yesterday I had to make a 4ft cross for a funeral order and this isn't the way that normally we do them. We normally base in double white Chrysanthemums but the customer specifically asked for single cream Chrysanths instead and she wanted the more natural look around the edge instead of pleated ribbon with bits of greenery poked in between the Chrysanths with a natural looking large white Lily and Rose spray with Roses continuing down the cross. This of course was fine with us but consisted of more labour and time than a normal double white based cross would take to make.

I first of all started by shamphering (cutting) around the foam to create more of a softer edge. Once this was done I then proceeded to wetting the foam. The next step for this was to go around the outline of the cross with foliage- here I used Leather Leaf and Pittosporum. When finished I then proceeded to basing the cross with the single cream Chrysanths, now because they aren't as big or fluffy as the normal double white Chrysanths that we use there would be some gaps in between but this didn't matter as later on once I completed a section (I did the top of the cross first and marked out where I wanted the large spray and smaller rose sprays to go, then did the two sides and the longest side last) I used my Leather Leaf and Pittosporum which I cut into smaller pieces and carefully poked it into the foam around the Chrysanths to create the more wild/natural look. When finished, I then greened up the sprays with Leather Leaf and rolled Aspidistra leaves and then added my Lilies and Roses. Last of all to complete the look I added the loops of bears grass to all the sprays.

Once I had finished making the cross I did however like the overall result even if it was not something I would personally pick. This was different from the normal crosses that we do and I think that is why I liked it so much more than the traditional ones as it's nice to have and make something a bit different. The floristry techniques used in this cross are:

• Basing aka massing, blocking and bedding (variations of basing include pavé, pillowing, layering and texturing)
• Caging from the looped bears grass in the large spray and the connected rose sprays.
• Grouping, this is shown by the main Lily and Rose spray as the two work together in order to create an area of dominance within the cross.
• Wiring from the bears grass and Aspidistra leaves in order to create the overall look and to give added security.

How to make a branching unit bracelet or headband

What you will need:

• Scissors- the ones I'm using are florist scissors.
• Stemtex aka florist tape (this is the paper one but you can get the plastic one too either one works well but I prefer this one)- Available from most florists, garden centres, craft shops and wilkinson's.
• Thin wire- One I'm using is normally used for gardens but can work well. It is normally better to use thin wire from a florist shop or from online.
• Few stems of Ivy (Hedra helix). Larger leaves are better if you are making the headband one as they will have longer stems, slightly smaller leaves and stems are better for the bracelet.
• small craft flowers- available in most craft shops. You can have real flowers if you would like too but make sure you wire these too when wiring the leaves.
• butterfly if wanted.

Step 1:

Get your stems of Ivy (Hedra helix) and start by cutting off leaves. Larger ones work better when making the headband as you wont need as many but for the bracelet I went for medium sized ones. Make sure when cutting from the branch you have at least 1 cm of the stem. this makes it easier for wire and helps when making the branching structure.

Step 2:

If you have a reel of wire like me start off by cutting several lengths of around 10 cm minimum. this way you have a little bunch that you can probably at least use for two leaves at a time. But if you are using single lengths of wires that you either brought online or from a florist them skip to step 3.

Step 3:

Grab your first leaf fold it in half gently and poke your wire though the middle of the leaf towards the bottom near the stem if you can. If its your first time for good practice I would do this half way up the leaf. Once you have poked the wire through the leaf, bring the wire down and with the shortest length wind it around the stem. This gives the stem more security and avoids it from breaking. It also helps for later on when you move which direction you want the leaves to be. For the headband it is best to leave a longer bit of wire on the ends (about 3 cm) as it creates more a secure base. But because I have done this before and wanted more of a compact look for my bracelet I cut off most of the excess wire and was going to use mostly the stems for creating the branching unit. Wire all of your leaves then continue onto the next step.

Step 4: 

Once you have wired all of your leaves, grab your Stemtex and start to tape all of the wired stems. If you are creating the headband, tape the excess wire too. With Stemtex it is best to pull the tape whilst twisting it around the stem, this does become slightly sticky if your using the paper one but if you don't pull with either type of Stemtex it will not stick to the stem. It takes a lot of practice to pull whilst taping so try to have some practice before hand. If you want some craft flowers in your design then tape the wired stems of those too.

Tip: when I was at college when I couldn't manage to pull the tape whilst taping to the stem I used to reel of a length and pull it all then tape it. The paper one is better if your going to try this way.

Step 5:

Once you have taped all of the stems and wires you can start your branching unit. (I am making the bracelet here, to do a less compact bracelet with longer stems/wires or the headband it is exactly the same way but you will be taping half the stem and the rest of the excess wire as well.) I start off by grabbing two leaves and tape my second leaf slightly further down than my first so there is a gap between each one and leaving some of that stem longer than the first. When I come to tape on my third leaf I will be adding that stem onto the second leafs stem and so on and so forth. You will alternate sides each time so it looks more like a branch. continue taping all the way down by adding some flowers in as you go if need be.

Step 6:

Once you have got the required length for you bracelet or headband (for headband I would do it for it to nearly fit all the way around the head but make sure there if enough room for you to add some ribbon either side for you to tie to make a bow as seen in step 7). Tape your last leaf the opposite way around than the rest so its going back on itself. This way it hides the end of the branching unit.

Step 7:

 Once you have put on the last leaf I then got some ribbon. Satin or organza would be best as it gives it a nice finish, I cut off around 18 cm twice for both sides and I double tie it on to the start and finish of the branching unit. Once this is secure I then tear of a bit of Stemtex and go around where I have tied the ribbon to hide the mechanics. If you would like to add a butterfly, I suggest adding it at the very end so then you can find the middle, Make sure you have wired and taped it on to the branching unit properly. I will show you the finished product with and without the butterfly.

Finished product:

You can either hide or embrace the bow.

Comparison. Which one do you like best?

 or if you made the headband the overall look would like similar to this: