Alisha Copfer, Author at Ribbon Impressions

3 Types of Ribbon Gift Bows

Every year people share gifts for many occasions, from birthdays, weddings and baby showers to Valentines, Mother’s and Father’s day. And, of course, the year end holidays of Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza. And, by adding ribbon gift bows, you add a personal touch that makes all of your gifts seem more luxurious or fun. We all like receiving (and giving) presents with flair and finesse.

Classic Gift Bow

different uses for ribbon rolls when making holiday and gift bows

The first bow is quite basic in that it’s the same type of bow we all know from when we learned how to tie our shoes as children. Start by sliding the ribbon under the package, bringing the ends over the top and knotting the two ends together; at this point, check that the tails are the same length. Second, make a loop with the left side of the ribbon pining it between your thumb and forefinger to hold it in place. Finally, make a second loop with the right side of the ribbon and knot the loops on the top of the package, arranging them so everything looks good. See this in action at WikiHow.

Two Colored Ribbon Gift Bows

Make this bow independently and then secure it to the present or gift box. For this bow, you will need two ribbon widths and two colors of ribbon; let your imagination go wild! Place the skinnier ribbon on top of the wider ribbon and secure it into place, either by stitching or gluing it down. Now, you should have a solid, single piece of ribbon to use for your bow. Fold the two edges into the middle of the ribbon to create a continual loop and glue the edges together. To hide these edges, take a smaller length of either color ribbon around the middle. This action will also gather the center to help create the look of a bow. Tie this off, or secure it with a small amount of glue.

Luxurious Pom Pom Bow

The third bow is a classic pom pom bow with tails. Again, make this bow and then secure it to the present or gift bow. Pom pom bows are the most lavish type of gift bow. To make this bow, you will need one very long piece of ribbon. Also, the longer the piece of ribbon, the fuller and bigger the bow will be. Start by folding the ribbon in half to find the middle of the ribbon.

Once you have the center, twist the ribbon and create a loop on one side, do the same on the other side. Repeat until you have an equal number of loops on each side with some ribbon remaining for the tails. Once you reach this step, take a smaller length of the same ribbon and tie it around the center of the bow (where you were twisting the loops) to secure the whole thing. Once it is secure, ensure the tails are the same length and gently pull the loops apart to make the pom pom. Watch a short Better Homes and Gardens video to see this in action.

Personalized Ribbons

Make your gifts look more festive and fun to unwrap with ribbon gift bows. Start shopping now at www.personalized-ribbons.com.

Happy Halloween from Coller Industries!

Trick-Or-Treat and Happy Halloween from Coller Industries!

Not only do we make and sell the best Halloween name tags, signs and ribbons, but we also know how to celebrate! Every year our company looks forward to our annual employee costume contest and potluck. And each year the costumes and food get better!

In past years employees have dressed as werewolves, cartoon characters and more. This year no two costumes were alike. And we had outstanding participation! From a gnome to a banana and even our own resident Forest Gump, the costumes were well chosen and planned out. Some of the costumes were incorporated to fit exactly to the person. Our social media manager came as a social butterfly and an employee named Rainbow came as Rainbow Brite! And, as always, we love to share our festivities with our customers. So, here are all of the costumes!

Thank you to those who participated, and congratulations to the winners!

Every employee cast their vote for their favorite costume. And, each winner received a stock place award ribbon for their efforts. The first place winner also received a gift card in celebration of their hard work!

The company potluck this year was a build-your-own taco bar. Employees participated by bringing taco toppings such as lettuce, cheese, olives, tomatoes and even jalapenos. We all had a choice of taco shells, tortillas and even taco bowls for a salad. Of course, there were sides such as healthy black beans, chocolate covered marshmallows that looked like Frankenstein’s Monster, homemade peanut butter cheesecake, and a wonderful red drink concoction that bubbled and fizzed. No one went hungry!

We also had a reverse trick-or-treat from our marketing department to all our employees. Treats were passed out to everyone, even a couple of visitors. Coller Industries had no shortage of fun and sweets this year!

Custom Ribbon Definitions: Part 2

Defining our business helps our customers to fully understand what we do.

While our FAQ pages contain many questions, we thought about getting down to the nitty-gritty for you. Here is part two of our definitions series. Find out more about how our business runs! While our Artwork Guide features most of this topic, there might still be a few unanswered questions.

Our artwork guide says the following:
Imprinted Ribbons require black and white, one color vector art. Full Color Ribbons may be created using vector art or high quality bitmap files (300 dpi minimum). High quality artwork is required for all processes. Unfortunately, we cannot consider faxes, photocopies, business cards, printed products or photos of any of the above to be print-ready artwork. We can quote most jobs by using such artwork, but we cannot use this art for production.

To help you understand better what we need for your artwork, here are the definitions to the files we accept for production.

Vector Artwork
For the best results, we recommend submitting all artwork as vector files (.eps, .ai,.cdr ) with all text converted to curves or outlines. Vector art means the computer mathematically plots the outline of each shape and applies a fill color. The computer knows exactly what shapes are in the image. If you zoom in on a vector file the colors remain clear and the edges are clean and well defined.

Bitmap Artwork
The quality of your printed ribbons depends on the quality of the artwork submitted. Bitmap art uses a grid of tiny squares of color (pixels) to create the image. The computer will not know what shape is in the image because it does not recognize color differences in pixels. This is also known as raster artwork. An image from the internet (usually a .jpg, .png, or .gif saved at a resolution of 72 dpi) that looks great on your monitor will not print well. When you zoom in on a low-quality bitmap image you will see squares, rough edges and uneven colors. You cannot improve the quality of the image simply by saving it with higher dpi settings. The image will have more dots per inch, but the quality will remain the same or even degrade further.

Color Matching
The best way to let us know what colors you expect is the Pantone Matching System (PMS). We make reasonable efforts to match these colors however, we do not offer exact color matches due to limitations of the production processes. Available materials limit the color of imprinted logos and surfaces. Variations in materials, printer ribbons, equipment, and environmental factors preclude any guarantee of color. If color matches are important, we recommend the purchase of a First Article; we may send a color sample in some circumstances. However, variations in materials, stamping foils, printer ribbons, equipment, and environmental factors preclude any guarantee of exact color consistency from lot to lot or even item to item within the same lot.

Do you have any further questions about these definitions?

There will be more articles coming with even more definitions! Please help us by letting us know what definitions you need. Are there specific things you just don’t quite understand? Reply with anything that you might need help with!

Holiday Ribbons: Halloween Edition

With the holidays quickly approaching, ribbons are becoming more and more important. So, let’s start this season off with an explosion of black, white and orange!

Halloween is a fun and festive tradition in many homes and businesses. With costumes of fairies and cartoon characters everywhere, you might be in need of prizes for the best one. Or what if you’re celebrating this holiday by throwing a party? Use these festive ribbons for decorating your home or party venue. And don’t forget the treats! What would Halloween be without candy?

Ribbon rolls can be customized to meet all your holiday needs. From choosing the perfect color to forming the best phrase, all our ribbon rolls can be personalized. Create holiday wreaths or simply drape these ribbons along banisters, stairs or walls for your holiday decorations.

Use ribbon rolls to tie up goody bags. From cookies to candy, your treats are sure do to the trick especially when personalized with your own festive ribbon.

And, no Halloween party is complete without a few prizes.

Use classic ribbons or rosette ribbons to create your own, one-of-a-kind awards! Use titles such as Best Costume, Most Creative or Scariest Costume. No matter your choice for awards, these personalized ribbons will be perfect for each and every winner.

While orange and black ribbons are the typical colors for Halloween, we have a giant color selection to choose from. Choices include: Torrid Orange, Poppy, Tangerine, Black, White, Maize, Red and Scarlet. Or, go with colors a little less traditional: Regal Purple, Pastel Green or Smoke Blue.

Hand out badge ribbons for party games, given as a bookmark to students, or given as a prize for a costume contest. Use them as recognition of that special costume or person during a meeting or at a school event. These also make great keepsakes for your guests to take home with them.

Dress up your Halloween party with Halloween designs on personalized ribbons and have a Happy Halloween!

Personalizing Corporate Gifting

Use custom ribbons in your corporate gifting this year and make your brand stand out!

According to many surveys, most often corporate gifting includes major clients, employees and prospective clients. A company’s brand is what they are, what they want to be, and what they aim to become as a whole. And when gift giving, branding is extremely important for all corporations.

Reasons for gift giving range from thanking customers or consumers for their business to recognizing an employee for outstanding work. But, the basic reason seems to always be the same. It is to sustain relationships and deepen the personal connection between giver and recipient.

For many companies, corporate gifting is a fundamental detail within their marketing strategies. But remember, the packaging is just as important as choosing the right gift for your associates. Adding a fun personalized ribbon to each gift.

Typically, when thinking about corporate gifting, ribbon rolls come to mind. These personalized ribbons are perfect to get a simple message imprinted on them. Wrapping your gifts with a fun and creative ribbon is a great way to get your message and brand out.

But, don’t forget about all of the other wonderful ribbon options we offer! Customize imprinted ribbons and full color ribbons to fit all your needs. Choose from a fun and festive full color design or a simple imprinted message to those who will be receiving your corporate gifts.

Looking for that perfect gift?

Going for a traditional personalized gift like a desk wedge or name plate is great way to go. But, don’t get caught up in a boring streak! Customize name plates to fit anyone’s personality. From favorite quotes to a fancy font for a name, choose from a large variety of these wonderful and flexible personal identification tools. Quotes and simple sayings also look amazing on acrylic name plates and executive name plates.

Corporate gifting is a fun and wonderful way to show appreciation. These ribbon products will help you to maximize your investment. Have you ever received a corporate gift that you couldn’t live without? We’d love to hear from you!