Thursday, February 17, 2022

Macrame Mail Stand

 

If you have some kind of table in your foyer or entryway, you know it's a natural drop zone area - especially for mail and other items. Have I got an adorable macrame mail stand that tidies unruly mail while adding a bit of glam to the area.
Please note that I am not an expert at creating macrame. I took a class over forty years ago and had to re-learn most of the knots and techniques.

Materials:

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

Instructions:
Let's begin with two wood hoops. Mine are 12 inches in diameter. I wish they were bigger, but I already had them in my stash. Stand the hoops upright, touching center sides and tie together (temporarily). Spread bottoms apart, as pictured.

Cut dowel rod in half (6"). Eyeball midway where the hoops are tied and where the width is six inches (from hoop to hoop) on each side of the hoops.  

Glue rods to hoops. Then remove the temporary tie and glue edges of hoop together at center.
Then wrap macrame cord around center hoops to secure, gluing ends down.
To find out the length of cords needed, I researched online and it said to measure the length needed which would be the distance between rods and multiply that eight times to get the length of each cord needed. My area is 11.5"x8=92" for each cord. I needed 18 cords to cover the dowel rod. These are called working cords.

Next, make a lark's head knot by folding the cord in half placing the loop over the dowel rod. 
Pull the loop down behind the rod and pull the two cords down and through the loop. Pull and tighten the knot. .
Then fill the rod with lark's head knots .  .  .  18, as I mentioned before. It's important to have an even number of cords for making the square knots.
Next, take two cords and lay them over on the right. Then take four cords and begin making a square knot, by taking four cords - two working cords - left, right and two filler cords (center). Take the left cord and make a "L" shape over the two middle cords. 
Move the right working cord under the two filler cords and over the left working cord. Pull both working cords to tighten, keeping the filler cords straight. This is a left facing half square knot.
Mirror the process working with the opposite side cords. The two working cord have switched places. Move working cord to the left, passing it over the fillers and under working cord . Move working cord to the right, passing under the fillers and over cord. Tighten by pulling on the working cords, while holding the fillers steady.
For the next row, include the two cords on the right to make the square knot - continuing all the way over and including those two cords on the left side to secure the knots to the hoops.  


Continue laying two cords over the hoop for each row, creating square knots along each row.

Continue making square knots along the length of the hoops between the rods.
A word of caution - making macrame square knots was very repetitious so I decided to watch tv as I was making them. Bad idea! I got wrapped up in the tv and forget if I completed square knots and if I left cords out - causing me to take more than a few cords out.


When reaching the next dowel rod,  pull the four cords down of each square knot to make a finishing knot for each cord around the rod. Wrap the cord around the rod, forming a loop and thread the end of the cord up and through the loop, pulling the knot tight against the last macrame knot. Cut off excess knot. 

I love having this mail stand for incoming mail.

Welcome! It’s time for another Creative Craft Blog Hop, hosted by Sara @ Birdz of a Feather! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial on making a macrame mail stand. Up next is Cecilia @ My Thrift Store Addiction sharing her soft and cozy DIY Throw! Perfect for these cold wintry days and nights! But don’t forget to check out the other stops too because you’ll find plenty more creative craft ideas!



11 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! Girl you never cease to amaze me in your talent. What a great way to store the mail etc.. because you are so right about the drop zone. Mine could use a little organization. Great project!

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  2. Fantastic idea Gail; I have some hoops just waiting for a makeover like this and we really need a drop zone for mail. Good to know that you can't multi task while doing macrame lol. Your macrame mail stand looks amazing.

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  3. Gail, this is SO creative! I love this macrame project--thanks for sharing! Blessings, Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction

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  4. You clever gal! This is such a creative way to use old embroidery hoops and turn them into something useful. Thanks for sharing, Gail!

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  5. Wow Gail, this is not only cute, functional, and uber creative, it's thinking way outside the box! I am amazed at your math skills figuring out the lengths of the cord you needed for the macrame! Macrame is such an incredible craft, I bet it was really fun to do~
    Jenna

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  6. I have always wanted to learn how to do this. Thanks for the easy to follow step by step tutorial. Your stand turned out so cute.

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  7. This is such a cool project. I would have never thought of it myself so of course I have to pin this. I haven't done macrame since I was in Girl Scouts either but I think you did a great job on this.

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  8. Bellissimo progetto creativo
    Buon fine settimana

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  9. Oh my goodness, this is so cute! It makes me want to learn macrame! I crochet, but I don't think that would give it the same look. It's such a cool idea for mail or keys. Happy hopping with you!
    Niki ~ Life as a LEO Wife

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  10. GREAT JOB! This blog presents a very valuable information. Keep up the good work! Visit our website too. Thanks!
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