One of the photos on my

Vision Board

shows a home decorated with

Macrame Hanging Planters

While I may not be able to move into the home I am envisioning today

I do try to incorporate some of those smaller details into my current home..

they remind me to keep meditating and manifesting.

I already have the same plant in my living room, but wanted to find one of these Macrame Planters.

I love the look of these and set out to purchase one but was unsuccessful.

All of the DIY classes are done until the fall.

So instead I picked up 2 packages of cord from Stash in Inglewood

and set about trying to figure out how to make my own.

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It seemed fairly simple, the only stumbling block

was figuring out how long to cut each cord and even the woman who teaches the DIY class couldn’t answer that question.

Because I would be making my own design and the number of knots I would use affects the length required.

I finally found one that was similar to the one I had imagined making and used that as my guide.

It ended up far too long, but having kept track of what I’d done to customize my own,

I now know for next time.

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I love a simpler design, it is more similar to the magazine photo I’ve got on my Vision Board.

The first step  is to find a glass container and a small plant.

You can find these almost anywhere, but I love Plant in Inglewood and sourced mine there.

I choose to make a glass container with a plant plopped inside so that I can take out my plant to water it, rather than risking watering an overflowing pot in my bedroom.

♥

Coastal Macrame Hanging Planter

Materials:

2 packages #5 braided sash cord, 100% cotton, 100 ft per package

1 36″ shorter piece of cord

2 inch wood ring (from Michael’s Hobby Shop)

scissors

sturdy wood hanger

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Stretch out your cord as long as you wish your hanger to be. I wanted my planter to be 36″ long, including the tassel and added 6″ extra for good measure. Using that length of cord, measure it out twice more by folding it over and running it through your hands. You’ll end up with one long piece of cord that is 3 times the length of your finished hanger. Mark this point with a safety pin and fold over to double it again. This makes one long piece of cord that is six times longer than your planned hanger. It will be marked at the halfway point with three lengths on each side of your half way mark. Cut your cord.

I did not make as complex a pattern as I initially thought I would and had a tassel that was about 3 ft too long. But by using the guide above, you will have the ability to create any number of knots and not run out of cord.

To do this exact project again, I would have only had to measure out the length of my project and folded it over once to have a piece of cord 2 times my finished length instead of the three. Marked that with a safety pin and folded it over to end up with one long piece of cord that is 4 times longer than my planned 36″ hanger.

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Once you have your one piece of cord cut to the correct length, use that cord to cut 5 more cords, to end up with a total of 6 cords for your hanger. Cut a shorter piece of cord, the photo below was my first attempt, the 18″ recommended was too short, so cut a short 36″ piece of cord for your Hangman’s knot.

Gather these cords together, thread them through the wooden ring and pull them through the ring is at the center of your cords. Tie with a small thin piece of string to hold in place if you wish, I didn’t do this. I simply gathered the strings together to make the first Hangman’s knot.

To make this first knot, I hung the wooden ring over the hook of a sturdy wooden coat hanger then hung that onto my metal stair railing or you could hang it on a hall closet coat rack bar. This gives you the ability to create tension and pull on your project as you are making knots. You can even stand on your strings to keep tension in them as you go, I didn’t need to do this.

My photos below show the project on my table, but this was just to indicate how to make the knots. You’ll find it much easier having your project hanging on a hanger.

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Now we’re going to the beach.

Ebb Flow Drift Tutorials has an excellent video that shows how to make a beautiful Hangman’s Knot to anchor your cords to the wooden ring. I could write about it, but found her tutorial shows it so beautifully! Plus I love her accent and would love to visit New Zealand and Australia!

Note: she does not use the same number of cords as I used, but the knot is still the same. Keep all 6 cords on your ring.

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Here is a view of my knot before pulling through to finish.

and here’s the finished knot.

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About four inches below this anchor knot, we are going to make a half knot.
If you repeat this several times you’ll make a spiraling effect.
I wanted a simpler planter so only made this knot two times.

Separate the cords into three sets of four cords.
Begin working with one set of four cords.
The two center cords simply “carry” the outside cords as they form the first knot.

I believe my photos are large enough to show you how to loop the strings, explaining with words is much more confusing!

Repeat this one more time to have two knots together.

Do this again with the other two sets of four cords.

Then repeat again about 4 inches below the first 3 knots, your planter will now look like this:

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Now we will make Infinite or Josephine knots about 6 inches below your last row of half knots.

Begin as below with your first set of four strings. Ensure the cords are laying flat, even when you pull to tighten. Twisted cords make a less even knot.

Repeat with the other two sets of four cords.

Your macrame will now look something like this:

Now we are going to drop down and begin making the net for our glass container.

You will be joining pairs of strings to connect the Infinite knots together. The last two “outside” cords join together. I used a simple knot by looping the two cords back on themselves.

Here is another view of the first row of netting cords. The cord on the far left and far right will be joining together.

Repeat this again a few inches below your first set of knots, you’ll see a simple netting effect unfold.

At this point, I put my glass container into the center to see where it would sit. I then made a third row of netting knots, then put the glass container back in to see where to tie the bottom of my hanging macrame project. I decided to use all of the cords to make a simple knot, but you could make another Hangman’s knot just like the one you started with. I preferred the more organic look of a simple knot.

I love how it turned out. I didn’t want an overly knotted macrame project and love the simplicity of the finished hanging planter.

You can see I had about 3 feet of excess cord but if you keep to the same length that I used, you’ll have the ability to make several more knots at the top of your hanging planter if you wish.

I tied a few simple knots in each string to make a waterfall effect and will simply cut off the string just below these to finish my project.

This was such an easy and inexpensive DIY, I think my next project will be a wall hanging… I just need to find a piece of driftwood.

So I may not have the home on my Vision Board, but I have the Macrame Hanging Plant Hanger and seeing this every day will remind me to manifest my dreams.

♥

I hope my instructions are clear, if you have any questions, leave them below and I will edit my writing to clarify the steps.

Blessings,

Smidge