Step 1
Open a new document, or document you wish to create the ribbon in. I chose to start with a new document, 500x350 pixels in size, with a white background.

Step 2
On a new layer (not the background layer), Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (shortcut = M) and create a ribbon sized shape, very long and narrow, along the horizontal. Start at the left near the edge of the document and then drag the marquee to the right but not all the way.



Step 3
Grab the Paint Bucket Tool, and fill the area with a color you want the ribbon to be. I choose a nice dark red, #9f0000.



Step 4
With the selection still highlighted, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise…. This menu should appear:



Set the Amount to at or around 4% which will be the basis for our threads in the next step. Press Ctrl + D on the keyboard to deselect, and now your document should look like this:



Step 5
Using the Single Row Marquee Tool , make a horizontal selection on any part of the ribbon you like. It doesn’t particularly matter where, but some places may be better for the ‘threaded’ effect than others. I chose to do it near the middle for the hell of it.




Step 6: Making the threads
Now with the row selection still selected, go to Edit > Free Transform (ctrl + T). Grabbing the middle box on the transform thing, pull the bottom part down to the edge of the ribbon like so:



Grab the top of the selection and drag it to the top of the ribbon like you did to the other one. Press the check mark at the top to confirm the transformation and press ctrl+D to deselect. Your threaded portion of the ribbon should now be complete.



Step 7: Getting the fancy End Cuts
Switch to the Polygon Lasso Tool , and starting at the top right corner of the ribbon, make an angular lasso into the ribbon a little bit, and then back to the bottom right corner and then connect it back at the top. The sides don’t have to be perfect, and in fact would look more realistic if they were not perfectly square.



With the area now selected, press DELETE (del) on the keyboard to remove that selection from the ribbon. Not you should still have your ribbon layer selected for this to work. Press ctrl+D to deselect your selection.




Step 8: Final Thoughts
Some alternative things you can do to the ribbon is add a small stroke inside it, with the same background color you started as, to give it something extra.


You may also want to add a drop shadow if this ribbon is going to sit above the design a little:




And here is the effect used on Apple’s on website:



Happy Hollidays From Visual Design Core!!