by Allison on March 10, 2024 //
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Summer is a great time for crafting. When the weather gets a little too hot it’s the perfect time to take indoors with a few craft supplies and a head full of crafty ideas.
After a bunch of running around my family and I took to my hotel room to get crafty. We had fun with Spirographs and clay and glitter and even macrame cord. A little photograph session in the hotel’s bathtub with a little help from my mom and sister and now I’m going to share this little project with you.
It’s super simple. Like, super simple. I must admit, I’m not terribly sure if this is proper macrame as I haven’t actually researched the knots BUT this looks very much like the others I’ve seen on Pinterest and whatnot and doesn’t require any special skills.
Though in my tutorial everything is laid out on a white surface, I’d strongly recommend working with your knots as the project hangs. I simply placed my steel ring over a doorknob and worked from there, moving over to take pictures as necessary. When lying flat things got very confusing but when hanging you can turn and twirl and work very quickly.
For this project you will need:
You can purchase macrame cording at craft stores and frayed ends can be smoothed into looking much cleaner with a little bit of flame from a lighter. Take care because too much fire will cause it to burn and turn black. A little bit goes a long way. Also, take care because the molten plastic ends can and will stick to anything they touch from couch cushions to thighs.
Cut four pieces of macrame cord that are roughly two outstretched arms width wide. Fold them in half and run that gathered cord through the center of a steel ring. FYI – I purchased my steel rings in the leathercraft section of a craft store.
Pull the ends of the cords through the loop to create your first knot around the steel ring. Â This ring is how your planter will hang.
You’ll now have 8 macrame cords hanging from the steel ring. Divide them off into pairs of 2 that naturally work easily together. That’s to say that cords nearer each other will most comfortably divide off together.
Starting approximately where you’d like your hanger to meet with the top of your glass planter, form overhand (simple) knots. You can grab both cords and create a knot or you can tie the 2 strings together into 2 overhand knots.
The second option gives you a lot of play in moving your knots around but the first option is much sturdier. If you’re having trouble getting your macrame going because of difficulty getting these first knots evenly spaced, I’d suggest going that route.
Place your planter with the top of the vessel at the first-knot measure out the approximate middle of the planter. Now we are going to start that traditional macrame look.
Rather than tying knots in the already existing pairs, you’re instead going to work either left or right (it doesn’t matter either way) and tie an overhand knot at that level with the nearest neighboring cord as seen above.
Next, you’ll need to finish your hanger by tying a knot of all of the cords at the bottom. Try to space this the same distance from the middle knots as they are from the top. That’s to say you’ll have the top knots –> 2 inches to the middle knots –> 2 inches to the final bottom knot joining all of the cords together.
This bottom knot will bear the weight of the entire planter and its contents so be sure it’s nice and secure.
Trim the excess cord to have a nice, decorative dangle on the end. Use the lighter to sear off the ends and prevent fraying.
Add your empty planter to be sure it works well and fits within without any problems.
Fill your planter with faux or real succulents and stones, dirt, or any other filler required. Place your succulent into your hanger and you’re all set!
There might be a bit of a learning curve for the first planter but after that, these guys knock out super quickly. My second took just under 10 minutes! And since I used faux succulents after hanging they require absolutely nothing further but an occasional dusting. Cool, right?
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A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.