paper bow DIY + svg file

a couple days ago i saw a creator on tiktok share a cute paper bow DIY that her grandma taught her. and while it was super simple and easy to follow with paper, scissors and a hot glue gun, i thought maybe the cricut / cutting machine girlies would appreciate a templatized version. and since i’ve been on a template making kick (made custom matchboxes for a birthday dinner a couple weeks ago), i thought, why not give this a go?

so without further blah blahs, here is the svg file for cute DIY paper bows.
you’ll need to adjust the function of a few layers so consider the steps below a quick start guide to get this file make ready:

once you’ve downloaded the file above, open design space or the equivalent program for your cutting machine.
open a new canvas and select upload.
click on “upload image” and select the downloaded svg file.
click upload.
you should see something similar to this on your canvas:

in the layers panel, make sure > Group is selected (as seen in the image above) and click on the layer to expand it (as seen in the image below).

next, we need to adjust the horizontal lines on our bow from cut lines to score lines.
there are five score line sub-layers: one single line in the center of our bow’s knot and four double score lines.
select the third sub-layer and the four sub-layer groupings below it (as seen on the image below).

in the tool bar, click on the function dropdown menu (where it current says basic cut) and select score.
the solid horizontal lines should now be dashed lines. you can also see the function on the layer changed to score.

in the layers panel, select all the layers within the group and click attach (as seen below).
this will keep your shape and score lines together when you’re ready to start cutting.

from here, you can make duplicates (cmd D) or resize as needed.
when you’re ready to start cutting, click make.

from here, go through the prompts of loading your mat, selecting the appropriate material, and arranging the cut outs on your canvas if you have multiple bows.
looking for assembly instructions? i posted a tiktok video with paper bow assembly instructions here.
if you have any questions, feel free to drop them here!
x niki