Tiffany bows are an easy way to make a gift look glamorous and elegant. This is the bow you see in old movies when the leading lady excitedly pulls one end of the the ribbon and the bow seems to fall apart. This is because there is no knot to untie. Everything about this bow is simple and classic – the ribbon is tied in such a way that it lies completely flat on the bottom of the box and the ends are cut to a point, in line with the edge of the box, rather than having two tails.

You will need:

1. A length of double sided satin ribbon, enough to go around the box lengthwise three times. If you have a roll of ribbon you can work off the roll until you reach step 5.

2. Double sided tape

3. Scissors

4. Embellishment is optional

Step 1

Place the ribbon over the box, with a tail of at least the length of the box hanging over the edge

Step 2

Hold the ribbon in place, with your left thumb, in the centre

Step 3

Bring the ribbon around the box, placing the second piece alongside the first. Hold both pieces in place with your thumb

Step 4

Take the piece of ribbon on the right over your thumb, at a 45deg angle

Step 5

Now wrap the ribbon around the box, taking it underneath then bringing it up at the right hand side.

Next, place the ribbon over where your thumb is, and hook it under from left to right

Step 6

Centre and tighten the ribbon (also make sure it is neat and tidy under the bottom)

Step 7

Make a two loop bow (there is no need to tie a knot)

Step 8

Play around with the bow until the loops are even and tidy

Step 9

Trim the ends in line with the edge of the box and add an embellishment if required

It is always an advantage to wrap any gift if it is in a box and, if the box is pretty enough, why even bother with wrapping paper. Just tie a nice bow around it a la Tiffany

These are some of my top tips:

Use a large pair of scissors

Slide the scissors through the paper, rather than taking shirt cuts to avoid choppy edges

Wrap gifts on a hard surface rather than on the carpet (we have all done that)

Keep a roll of brown Kraft paper in the house: not only will this save money but it is environmentally friendly (The benefits of using environmentally-friendly paper are massive. In Scotland  alone approximately 19,000  miles of wrapping paper are used each year, and a big percentage of this will go to landfill. Many of these rolls of wrapping paper are a composite of plastic film, glitter, metal-based foil and synthetic ink all of which can take decades to decompose if sent to landfill sites. It is worth checking with your local authority website to find out what their criteria is regarding paper waste.)

Start a wrapping box and encourage the family to save paper, ribbon and embellishments for future use

ITS A WRAP

Gill