How to make a rhinestone cheer bow

What to know first

A cheer bow is grosgrain ribbon, which is woven, slightly textured and takes glue well — the easy part. The hard part is movement: a bow is flicked, tugged and landed on for a whole routine, so anything at a fold or in the knot shears straight off. Build the design on the flat tails and loops, never through the centre. And unlike every other project here, a bow usually has a rulebook: squads and competitions set limits on bow size and embellishment, which is worth reading before you glue 300 stones to one.

What you need

• Grosgrain ribbon or a ready-made bow
• Glass flatbacks, 3 mm, in team colours
• Flexible E6000-type adhesive
• Wax pick-up pen and tweezers
• Baking paper to work on
• Hair tie or elastic for finishing

Step by step

1. Check your squad or competition rules on bow size and decoration.
2. Work with the ribbon flat and untied, on baking paper.
3. Mark the design, keeping the centre wrap and knot area clear.
4. Glue in small patches, pressing each stone down firmly.
5. Cure fully flat before tying or folding the bow.
6. Tie, fit the elastic, and store flat so the loops keep their shape.

Avoid

• Stones in the knot or centre wrap
• Stiff glue on a ribbon that folds
• Washing a finished bow
• Decorating beyond what your competition rules allow