Simple and beautiful, Christmas bows can be used inside and outside of the home in a variety of ways to create cheerful holiday displays. A bright red bow placed atop a green wreath is easily one of the most classic Christmas decorations - but do you know the best bow size for a wreath? What about the best method for attaching a bow to a window and which type of bow material is best for outside use? We'll help to answer your most common bow questions below.
The 4 most common types of bows are velvet, nylon, lamé and glitter. Each of these bows is structurally very similar and all of our bows include an interior wire for easier shaping. The material you choose will depend on how and where you plan to use the bow.
Christmas Bow Decorating & Installation Tips
When your bow arrives, take some time to shape it prior to installtion. If you have ordered a puff bow, you may also need to assemble it prior to use. Each bow has an internal wire to help you acheive the perfect shape. After shaping your bow, determine if you will need any extra hanging accessories. In most situations the included wire at the back of the bow will be enough to attach it to most common decorating surfaces. However, in some cases extra hanging support may be required. When the season is over, store bows in waterproof plastic bins to keep out moisture and pests. Only store as many bows as will fit in the bin without flattening them out. Puff bows should be taken apart before storage and each piece placed flat inside of a bin.
Christmas Wreath Bows - Bows should be 1/2 the diameter of the wreath. So for a 30" wreath you would select a 15" bow. If the bow is a few inches smaller or larger than the wreath diameter, that's ok, just try to get as close as possible. Christmas bows come with wire already attached which makes installation on greenery very easy.
Bows for Christmas Garland - The best bows to use with garland are either 15" or 18" structural bows as anything else will overpower the greenery. Place Christmas bows at the top points of garland swags or at the connection point where two pieces of garland are joined.
Christmas Tree Bows - If you have a large tree (14'+), you can use the smaller bows as Christmas tree decorations to really fill up space and give more dimension to the overall design. Christmas bows as tree toppers are another popular decorating option.
Christmas Bows on Windows - There are a few different ways to attach bows to your windows, if you have mullions on your windows you could permanently mount a screw or nail for the attachment point or use heavy duty outdoor rated suction cups or outdoor rated command hooks.
Mantel & Stair Decorations - You could use a 15", 18", or 24" Christmas bow on your mantel as a centerpiece or over cabinets. For stairwell banisters the best size would be either a 15" or 18" bow. Command hooks are the best option for temporarily attaching a Christmas bow to a mantel. Installing on stairways is easy with the provided wire that comes attached to the bow, just wrap that wire around your stair posts for installation. The wire is plastic coated so that it will not scratch the wood or paint of posts.
Outdoor Fence - The attached wire on the bow can be used to secure a bow to a fence, or you can use zip ties for a more sturdy tamper proof installation. For larger fence posts and columns, bungee cords or zip ties may also be used to keep bows secure.
