One of my favorite childhood Christmas memories was going downtown to see the department store displays with my family. For a long time, I've wanted to recreate a bit of that holiday magic for my own home. I have a pair of garden trellises above my living room couch that have just cried out to be wrapped up like a giant present.

Unfortunately, when I looked to purchase a giant bow, the only ones that I could find were either the lame two loop style (like a hair bow) or some crazy bow with 100s of loops that did not resemble any gift bow that I'd ever seen.

What I was looking for was a giant bow that looked just like a real gift bow, something equal to those used in professionally designed retail windows. I put the idea aside until this week, when I was about to trash some old vertical blinds. As I bent one, I realized it could be repurposed as a ribbon for a giant bow!

Next, there was a small learning curve as I strove to discover how to assemble this bow. After a little experimenting, I figured out that a hot glue gun was the best way to hold the loops together. I used a small bow as a model for my giant bow to make certain that I recreated it, exactly.

To spray the giant bow evenly, I took a lazy susan/turntable from the kitchen, covered it with newspaper, and placed a small cardboard box on top to lift the bow off the painting surface. I literally spun the bow as I spray painted it. I tried for light even coats, aiming to cover both the inside and outside of the loops.

I was careful to let the bow fully dry and cure before attempting to hang it. I, then, wrapped some wire between the loops and wired it to my trellis display. The two side ribbons were simply taped underneath to the trellis.

This giant bow would adapt itself to many other Christmas purposes such as decorating a mailbox, front door, window or an entire house. It is large enough to make an impressive dining table centerpiece or to top a very big present. Hint, hint, Santa, that sportscar on my list!

GIANT Christmas DIY Gift Bow