How to Make a Macrame Plant Hanger
There are 2 factors at play, in macrame: 1) intimidation, and 2) actually knotting. Don’t let that stop you from knotting your heart out! We made this simple DIY macrame plant hanger for my daughter’s bedroom in about 20 minutes…I promise you – you can do this!!
The first time I ever did macrame on purpose, was at a blogging conference. Other times I’ve done macrame were in the 80’s as a kid, with bracelets. Back to the conference – it was Saturday night, and there were a ton of people, wine, snacks, music, crafts, and new friends. Lisa (The Purple Hydrangea), Sarah (1915 House), and I were immersing ourselves in macrame at Charlotte’s (At Charlotte’s House) craft table, where she was teaching a bunch of us her magical ways. Once I got the hang of it, the wall hanging we were working on was pretty easy. Truth be told, it would have been easier if I were not moscatoing at the same time. Or laughing so hard at Lisa’s macrame commentary.
After I was done my mini wall hanging, I said something to the effect of, “I love this! I want to make one of those plant hangers!” I received assurance from Charlotte and other girls at the table that plant hangers are actually pretty simple, and to definitely do it. 2 years later, I finally made the plant hanger over the weekend. 2 years later.
This post is part of Fast Fix Friday!
Every(ish) Friday, 1915 House and The Purple Hydrangea get together and bring you a super simple, fast, fix to help simplify and beautify your home and life.
This weeks fix:
Sarah: Seed Starting Supplies for the Novice Gardener
Lisa: Stenciling – When You Want Boho But Wind Up With Boo Hoo
There are 2 factors at play, in macrame: 1) intimidation, and 2) actually knotting.
I seriously was intimidated by the plant hanger for the longest time. Which, is ridiculous, because it’s string and knots, I know. Things that happen in the Intimidation Zone, include asking questions like:
- How long do I make the strings?
- What do I use?
- How much do I have to add to make it long enough with that pretty tail?
- Where do I even buy macrame cord?
- How many pieces do I have to cut?
- What if my plant doesn’t fit?
- What if it looks ugly?
- What if it looks really cute, and I feel the need to make 428 of them?
- What if my plant dies inside the hanger?
- What if the hanger falls apart?
- How do I tie the knots?
- Where do I hang it?
- How do I know what to do?
So much time wasted on these questions (some actually good), even though I know I could just figure it out, and the other questions are not a big deal. I have renovated an entire house, but I had anxiety over a few knots.
Girl, stop it.
I know I could have read over a thousand how-to’s on Pinterest, and I did search for them… but I didn’t click through any of them. I wanted to give it a try on my own.
Ironically enough, you can pin this, and keep my directions, or my story to give you the push to just try it. Also, there are affiliate links in here, which are for the convenience of putting your macrame mind at ease – read my full disclosure right here.
Macrame for Non Macrame People
A plant hanger has a few basic parts – a knot or ring at the top, the strings, the basket-looking part where the plant goes, and the knot under the plant. Your supplies at minimum are a plant hook for your ceiling, macrame cord, scissors, a plant, beads if you like, a stool or step ladder, and a good attitude. That’s it!
Make a Macrame Plant Hanger
Check out the video where I give directions on how to make this. I gave Lilly directions, and she did the whole thing by herself. She is now a macrame monster, and cannot be stopped!
After you have installed your plant hook where you’d like it, and have your plant ready and waiting for a new home…
Cut and knot your cords.
We cut 3 – 14′ (yes, 14 feet) pieces, folded them in half (to have 6 – 7′ pieces) and knotted them with an overhand knot, leaving a bite on the end. Andrew told me to use fancy knot terms, so I’m just letting you know – these are ALL overhand knots, and this one has a bite – which is a loop. So fancy we are!! #EagleScoutProblems
Hang the loop on the hook, and start knotting.
Separate your 6 strands into pairs, and overhand knot those pairs where you’d like. You can do a series of these, or just one set, or none at all. It’s all up to you – if this is your first one, go for whatever you think would look great. If you don’t like it, just undo the knots!
You can braid in here, do other fancy knots with fancy names, or add beads… whatever your heart tells you to do.
Start the basket where your plant will sit.
Separate the pairs of strands, and pair one string with another string from a neighboring knot. For lack of better description, follow these photos below… 3 rows of this pairing/repairing will make diamonds, like a weave.
Those loose ends in the photos? Tie those together. It will form a cylinder. Repeat for however many diamond-weave-rows you’d like.
Tie it off.
Overhand knot your hanger using all the stands together, and put your plant in. Fluff it out, adjust your strings, and make 50 more.
Seriously, how simple is this? These overhand knots are pretty straightforward, and as you can see in the other pictures, I’ve got a sweet pathos in there, with beads and a giant planter from Hobby Lobby. I think it fills that corner pretty well!
The plan is to make a few more of these for our playroom and make a wall of sorts (lofty goals). If you make these macrame hangers, please do share them with me on my Facebook page – I’d love a ton of tips and pointers and bathe in your macrame skills!!!
