Ribbon Bows - Everything you need to know!

Unless you've just returned from a deserted island, you've probably noticed that ribbon bows have taken over cookie decorating. And I am TOTALLY here for it! Ribbon bows are the perfect sweet and girlie touch for so many designs and themes. My favorite part about them though, is that they are easy to do, and don't require perfection or precision. Win, win! 

The best thing about ribbon bows, is that the tip does all the work for you. You will need a rose tip - small to medium sized. I am using a 101 in these examples. If I were looking to make a larger ribbon bow - maybe if the whole cookie design was just a bow - I would use a 104. You can use a tip with, or without, a coupler. But I find it easiest to use it with. Especially if you want to use that same icing with another tip, you can switch as needed. 

The second most important piece of this technique - besides using the right tip - is having the right icing consistency. For ribbon bows you will need your icing to be stiff, similar to what you would use for stenciling. If you have never attempted to use a stiffer icing like this before, it's not difficult. But it will vary on how much water you may need to add, or not add, to your icing to get there. It all depends on your recipe and how stiff it is when coming out of the mixer. With our recipe, the icing is very stiff straight from the mixer, so I would add small amounts of water to my desired amount to get to a ribbon bow consistency. Yours may be different. But if you watch the video below, you can see what mine looks like and you can adjust yours accordingly. 

I came across some really beautiful examples of ribbon bows on Instagram and wanted to share them. They really show just how many themes you can add a bow to, and make it look modern and on trend. I hope you will be inspired!

These first 2 are from Melita of My Cookie Space. First off - I love a good martini ;) So these are right up my alley. But I love how she mixed in some cutters with a dedicated space for a bow, and some where she just added a bow as needed to a standard shape. And on the Alice in Wonderland set, the touch of a ribbon bow feels very current on a classic theme. 

Next up we have 2 examples from Kaitlin of The Goodies Goddess. Here she has 2 very different themes - but the ribbon bows work so well for each! I also love how she mixes in different kinds of bows on her sets - some are ribbon and some are piped. Those Christmas ones are making me feel festive all over again! 

And last, but not least, 2 cookie sets from Amber of Cookie Confections using ribbon bows. Again, I love the mix of different kinds of bows used. And cherries and "tini" birthdays are a huge trend too right now.  So combining them all together is amazing! 

I've linked each of these talented cookie artists Instagram accounts if you want to give them a follow and check out more of their work!

If you try some ribbon bows for the first time, let me know in comments below! Happy cookie-ing!