We are heading off on a European adventure in a few weeks so it’s time to start my travel preparation. And first thing is making sure that we can spot our luggage at the airport. Our actual luggage is pretty plain, so I plan to spruce them up a bit with these macrame keychains.
Macrame has always felt overwhelming to me. I think it’s because there are so many gorgeous giant wall hangings all over the internet that I figured that was the only way to go, by committing to a huge craft undertaking. But then I realized that a craft is what you make of it, and we all know, I like a small handheld sized craft. So I looked up some youtube videos on the basic knots and within 5 minutes, I was on my way to finishing my first macrame keychain.
Seriously, everyone, this is such a thrilling and satisfyingly easy craft.
What you will need:
- Keyring
- 3mm macrame cotton cord
- .6 inch wooden beads (optional)
- embroidery thread (optional)
- impressart starter kit (optional)
Step 1:
Cut 2 pieces of macrame cotton cord about 2 feet long and tie them side by side using square knots onto your key ring. Make sure that on both sides the outer side of the rope is about twice as long as the inside.
Step 2:
Take the outside rope and cross it over the two middle ropes. Now have that same rope go under the farthest outside rope.
Step 3:
Take the outer rope and take it under all three ropes, bringing your working rope up through the hole.
Step 4:
Pull both of the outside ropes to tighten. You will also have to keep tugging down the middle ropes to get a good tight knot.
Step 5:
Repeat steps 2 through 4 on the opposite side.
Step 6:
Continue knotting back and forth until you get to about 3 inches long.
Step 7:
Choose your personality for the finishing touches!
You can wrap some embroidery thread around the loose rope (I secured mine with e6000 glue just to be safe). I also added a little charm that I hammered using ImpressArt that says “wonder.” I then frayed the edges with a needle and trimmed.
Another option is to tie off each individual strand and added a bead for a more neutral modern look.
And you’ve done it! I am eager to use this for our vacation and I realized that besides being a nice personalization, they double as a zipper pull for when I overstuff my luggage with all of my souvenirs!
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