Giant metal bow

Source

I ran into this project in the December 2014 / January 2015 issue of Martha Stewart Living. I decided to make it for the 2015 holiday season.

  • cover of winter issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine
  • pages of Martha Stewart Living magazine lying open
  • detail of Martha Stewart Living magazine article about making a giant metal bow

Result

It looks fantastic and has received numerous compliments. Here are two photos.

  • giant metal bow hanging on wood fence with holiday lights
  • giant metal bow hanging on wood fence with holiday lights

Construction

The bow is made from loops of 6-inch wide aluminum flashing attached to an 18-inch pine disc from Home Depot.

I constructed a regular pentagon at the center of the disc to get the five loops evenly spaced. Next, I drew several concentric circles to decide how far from the center the loops should be. After some experimentation I decided to use circle #3, shown below-right.

  • pentagon drawn in pencil on a circle of wood
  • close-up of pentagon drawn in pencil on a circle of wood
  • close-up of metal ribbon attached to wood

Each loop is rolled into a cone, temporarily held together with duct tape, then screwed onto the wood disc.

  • giant metal bow being assembled
  • giant metal bow being assembled
  • giant metal bow being assembled
  • giant metal bow being assembled

The center loop is attached to a wooden riser.

detail of wood piece in giant metal bow

Last updated January 2021