I have made them before using acetate strips. Are the strips necessary? Are there other techniques or suggestions that make nicer looking bows?

There are tutorials on you tube.

I go ahead and make the bows and depending on the size I will put either large dowels or empty paper towel rolls through the loops of the bows, then lay them on a sheet pan that has been dusted with cornstartch until they are dry and ready to be placed on a cake.

I hang them on dowel rods. I like the idea of the acetate strips because when you move it, it wont stretch. A friend of mine made me a rack that has different thickness and I use that to dry them. I just dust them first. Youtube does have various techniques and really good tips also. There are also various ways to cut them so they look more like fabric bows (the loop in the center sometimes looks too far on some bows)

I like to do 2 tone bows. I use two different colors of fondant (with Tylose added to it), roll it out and cut my strips. I glue the strips together with a paintbrush and water. Loop it, pinch the ends and then each loop on it's side. I just dry them in a cake pan on the counter overnight. I've tried the paper towel tubes, dowels, etc, but just drying them on their sides works surprising well and doesn't take up any space. Once dry, I add a thin strip/rope of fondant to finish up the edge. I'm loving this method lately. It's just been trial and error for me. I can't seem to upload photos here, so I will link it. These are a few I've done in this style, if you are interested in checking them out. Good luck.
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Check out the link in my signature.

I make a lot of bows and the best method I've used is to cut your strips to the needed length, place them on a large dowel (the size of a closet rod) fold the ends over, pinch them and let them dry overnight, remove them and put them together with melted chocolate.