How to Make Dog Bows for Shih Tzus

Making dog bows is very easy to do and inexpensive. You can also use these for young children or dolls. Make them out of ribbon, and add embellishments if you prefer. You can also sell handmade dog bows to local customers you meet at the dog park, vet or local dog show. If you're a groomer, you will save money by making your own dog bows and will please customers at the same time.

Things You'll Need

  • Cornstarch spray Different-textured ribbons Small hair clips or rubber bands Hot glue or superglue Hot iron
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Instructions

    • 1

      Take a small piece of ribbon no more than 15 inches long. Choose a ribbon that is appropriately colored to suit your dog. Typically, a boy dog would have a white, blue or black bow, and a girl dog would have a pink, purple, white or yellow bow. Really, it's up to preference on which color you choose for your dog's hair bows, but choosing appropriately colored bows helps identify the sex of your dog.

    • 2

      Cut the ribbon into two equal pieces. The length of the ribbon will determine how large the bow will be. If you prefer smaller bows, then cut the pieces no more than 3 inches each. Each piece of ribbon will become a bow. Typically, you would place two bows on the dog; however, some people do place only one.

    • 3

      Spray each piece of ribbon with cornstarch, and lay each piece of ribbon horizontally onto a flat surface. Crisscross each ribbon piece into a bow shape. Use an iron to set the cornstarch, and make the bow crisp. Make any necessary changes to the dog bows now before affixing any hair ties to them.

    • 4

      Use superglue or hot flue to affix a small hair clip to the back of each dog bow, or use small rubber bands. Do not use Vaseline (which is typical in affixing bows to infant children's hair) to affix the bows to your dog's hair because the dog could eat it accidentally.

    • 5

      You can curl the edges of each ribbon using scissors, and curl the ends of the bows with the ends of the scissors. You can also glue several bows together to form a different-styled bow. You can make each bow larger for different types of dogs. Try using different-textured bows to create custom looks. Make several different colors and designs so that you have more variety to go with your dog clothes.