There are few things better than quick projects with instant gratification. No waiting hours for paint to dry or processes that require a few days to complete. This is one of those quick projects!
Macrame has been making a come back since its prime time in the flower child decade. For those that are unsure of what macrame is Google provides us with this definition:
macramé
məˈkrɑːmi,-meɪ/
noun
- the art of knotting string in patterns to make decorative articles.
I have decided that my front door needs some color. I will be painting it in due course but this was a quick project that gave me a good head start. This is what our front door area looks like.
All you will need for this project is:
- rope/cord (I happened to have a spool of natural sisal looking cord on hand)
- a ruler
- a plant pot or vase
I cut 4 lengths of the cord that measured 8ft. I held the 4 lengths together in one hand at the same height and folded them in half at the midpoint. This creates the loop at the top that the plant holder will hang from. I then tied a knot about 3 inches from the midpoint to secure the loop.
Now I have 8 strands of cord and a loop at the top. I separated the eight strands into four groups of two.
I start tying knots from the top and worked my way down. I took the first group of 2 strands and measured 14" from the loop knot. That is where I tied my first knot.
I tied knots in the 3 remaining groups of 2 cords all measuring 14" from the loop knot. Take your time a be sure the knots are even.
Now you have your loop knot and the first set of knots that will make up your holder. Lay your strands next to each other and try to make them flat so they are not twisted at the top. You will then take the left strand of one of your groups of 2 and tie it the the right strand of the group that is adjacent to it. Do this to all of your strands until you end up with another 4 knots. At this point you should hold up your partially finished plant holder and fit it over your plant pot. This way you know if you made your knots correctly. It should fit around your pot in a circle with none of the strands crossing through the middle. If you find that you made a mistake. Just untie the knot that is incorrect and correct it.
At this point I would suggest that you should put the plant holder over your pot to determine where you should tie your final set of 4 knots. I decided that I wanted those knots to be right at the base of my holder. With the plant holder over the pot I measured the distance from my last set of knots to the bottom of the pot. It was about 4.5". I then did the same thing as in the previous step. Tied the left strand from 1 group of 2 to the right strand of the adjacent group.
This is what it looks like with the three sets of knots. This is what will make the nice "V" design around the sides of your pot.
Finally I measured the distance between the edge of the pot to the center of the pot's bottom. I then measured that distance from the last set of knots and held all of the strands together with one hand. I held the top of the holder up with my other hand and pulled to be sure the strands were all even. I then tied the last knot which is one big knot including all eight strands. This will be the knot that your pot will sit on.
This is what the pot holder looked like when I put my vase in it. This part of the project took about 15 minutes. I'm sure it could take much longer depending on how ornamental you want your plant holder to be. More knots = more time.
Now onto the hanging stage!
The overhang for our front door is made of sheet rock. Unfortunately this meant that I could not hang the pot exactly where I wanted it (in the center of where our little window is). There was not a stud to hold the screw secure. Not setting the screw into a stud (piece of wood) could mean my whole project crashing to the ground given a plant with soil etc. So I drilled into the front part of the overhang into a stud there.
After you've got your hole drilled screw in a hook that is long enough to go through the sheet rock and into the wood. Now hang your masterpiece!
I did not have a plant on hand and we were having people over so I cut a few pieces of bougainvillea from our yard and added them to the vase with some water.
Hope you all try this quick project out. You can also do this inside your house to hang plants near windows etc. Have fun :)
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