10 Easy Macrame Projects for Beginners (From Keychains to Wall Hangings)

Ten projects. Ten different finished pieces. One repeating story: every project here teaches you one knot, and the knots stack until you can make almost anything.

That's the idea behind this list. It's not ten random tutorials thrown together — it's a path, walked from the easiest first knots all the way to a finished macrame bag you'll actually carry. We've ordered it so that each project quietly hands you the skill you'll reach for in the next one. You won't sit down wondering what to do; you'll sit down, pick the next step, and knot.

Start at project one. By the time you reach number ten, you'll have learned the square knot, the Vertical Lark's Head, the Double Half Hitch in both directions, and how those knots combine to become walls, plant holders and bags. Learn the foundation first in our 7 Essential Macrame Knots guide, then come back and walk this path one piece at a time.

Let's begin at the beginning — where there's barely a knot to tie at all.

The very first wall hanging is also the gentlest possible introduction to macrame: you barely need any knots. The whole point of this one is to spend half an hour getting comfortable with how macrame cord feels in your hands — how it holds a fold, how it drapes, how a row of loose fringe settles the way you want it to. Our leaf wall hanging is a row of soft leaf-shaped knots with loose fringe below, finished with wooden beads in a muted, matte green that sits calmly on any wall.

There's something quietly soothing about this one. You don't have to concentrate on a knot — you just shape, arrange and let the cord find its own gentle rhythm. When it's done and hanging in your living room, you get that first warm "I made this" feeling, and it's real, because you did. It's the perfect first piece to hang somewhere you'll see it every day as a reminder to slow down.

What you'll learn: barely any knots at all — this project is about becoming familiar with macrame cord and the basic feel of making, which is the real foundation for everything after it.

Start here for a stress-free first session — shop the leaf wall hanging kit and take your first calm hour with the cord.

This is the fastest win on the whole list — under twenty minutes, and you've made something your furry friend will wear every single day. A pet collar is built almost entirely from the Square Knot, worked in a neat line so the collar lies flat against the neck. It's sized for a cat, and a small dog fits it just as happily.

The best part is who you get to show it to. When you clip that handmade collar onto your cat, you're not just knotting cord — you're making something that walks around the house on a little furry person. Making things for the ones we love is its own quiet kind of joy, and this one is small and fast enough to do in an evening, then immediately put to work.

What you'll learn: the Square Knot, one knot repeated down a clean line — your first real, functional knot, done.

Make your cat something special in minutes — browse the pet collar kit and find your collar supplies.

You just used the Square Knot to build a line. Now we take the exact same knot and build a surface — because a coaster isn't a line of square knots, it's a flat pattern of square knots side by side, forming a little piece of cloth that protects your table and catches every cup.

That shift — from knotting a strip to knotting a flat panel — is a bigger step than it sounds, and it's the moment macrame starts feeling like real fabric-craft. With a stack of a few coasters in contrasting colors, your coffee table gets a handmade upgrade you'll touch every morning. They're small, quick and quietly addictive: once you make one, you'll want a whole set.

What you'll learn: the Square Knot again — but into a flat pattern, the jump from a single line to a panel, which unlocks bags, and more, later in this list.

Shop the coaster set and protect your table the handmade way — get the coaster kit.

Now we meet a new knot: the Vertical Lark's Head. Don't worry when your cords tangle at first — the thing that makes it tricky is the cord wrapping around itself, and almost every beginner gets a little turned around the first few times. That's normal, and it's exactly why we practice it on something small: tie it a few times, let your hands figure out the pattern, and it clicks.

Our smiley keychain starts with a round metal ring, then a face made of knots, finished with a lobster clasp — easy to clip onto your keys or a bag. It's one of those projects you can make for yourself, then realize you want one for every friend. Twenty minutes of knotting, and you've made a tiny little friend to carry around.

What you'll learn: the Vertical Lark's Head — the first knot that asks a little more of your hands, so keep practicing until the tangle stops being scary.

Start with a keychain kit and practice that new knot — get the emoji keychain kit.

Same knot, easier the second time. You've already met the Vertical Lark's Head in the keychain, so now you get to enjoy it: hanging by your window, the finished suncatcher catches the light and it's genuinely stunning. Warm light through twin fringe rings and a little crystal pendant — a moment that makes the whole project feel magical.

This is the project that taught me why macrame and light belong together. On a slow afternoon you knot, and when the sun crosses the window, the piece you made glows. It's calming, cozy, and the kind of thing that makes you stop and look at your own hands with a bit of pride. Thirty minutes, and the light does the rest of the decorating.

What you'll learn: the Vertical Lark's Head, again — but now your hands already know it, so you feel the progress instead of fighting the tangle.

Put some light in your window — browse the suncatcher kit and make a suncatcher of your own.

Here's where the path steps up — and it's the trickiest pair of knots in the whole beginner set: the Double Half Hitch L2R and R2L. One uses the left cord as the axis and the right cord as the working cord; the other mirrors it. You wrap the working cord around the axis, but the direction of the wrap is opposite, so the finished knot leans differently — and they're the easiest pair to mix up.

The hair clip set is three clips with three similar-looking patterns (a fan of fringe, a wrapped style, and a little flower), each built with these two knots. Because they all look alike but tie differently, this kit is perfect for drilling L2R and R2L until your hands know them without thinking. And the payoff is wearable: finished hair clips with the classic, beautiful pattern you can actually clip into your hair and take out the door.

What you'll learn: the Double Half Hitch L2R / R2L (both directions), plus more time with the Vertical Lark's Head. Nail this set, and you've learned the protagonist knots of macrame.

Shop the 3-piece clip set and drill both tricky knots — see the hair clip kit until your hands know them by heart.

This is the project where it all comes together — and it's faster than you'd think. A mini wall hanging is a tiny masterpiece that gathers everything you've learned into one small piece of cloth: the Lark's Head to attach, the Square Knot for the body, and the Double Half Hitch L2R / R2L for the angled details. It's a little triangle of knots with a long, soft fringe finished on a short wooden dowel — the classic beginner wall hanging.

When this one comes off your board, you can honestly say you've learned macrame. Not one knot — the combination. Because here you finally see the real secret of the craft: it's not about memorizing knots, it's about how knots combine to make something new and beautiful. In ten to twenty minutes, the whole craft quietly clicks into place.

What you'll learn: Lark's Head + Square Knot + Double Half Hitch L2R/R2L together — the combination of knots, which is where macrame's magic actually lives.

Make the piece that proves you've learned macrame — shop the mini wall hanging kit and hang your very first signature piece.

Everything you've learned so far is more than enough for this one — it's genuinely easy, and it's one of the most useful projects on the list. A photo hanging is a little macrame holder that binds and holds a photo, finished with wooden beads and a small fringe. You can make a whole row of mini hangers and line up your favorite polaroids.

This is the craft of catching memories with your own hands. It's the closest macrame comes to a scrapbook, and it's the project I reach for when I want something small, fast and heartwarming. Ten to twenty minutes for each one, and suddenly your desk or wall is telling your story in handmade frames.

What you'll learn: a gentle consolidation — everything you've learned so far, now turned into something that holds a memory. Easy, useful, and endlessly repeatable.

Catch your favorite moments in handmade frames — browse the photo hanging kit and make a mini hanger for every memory.

Now we build something that holds a whole plant up in the air. A plant hanger teaches you net netting — the net that cradles your planter — started from a wooden ring, holding your little garden boss above the windowsill. This design is the neat, decorative plant hanger for a slim glass vase with a wooden ring, and it fits right into a calm, plant-filled corner.

There's a very particular cozy pleasure in a plant hanger: when the cord loops under the pot and the whole thing lifts into the light, it feels like you've done something quietly practical and beautiful at once. It's the project that turns "I can make macrame" into "I can make a home."

What you'll learn: net netting — a new way of combining knots into an open, airy structure, and your first project that carries real weight.

Give your plant a handmade home — see the plant hanger kit.

The last project on the path, and the one that makes everything click: a small bag. Building a bag means learning base netting — the flat, sturdy base of the bag that the whole structure grows from — and suddenly everything you've learned becomes a space you can carry things in. Our small bag has round wooden handles and an open, lattice pattern, made for a picnic or a day out.

This is the project that earns you the crown. When it's done, you can honestly hold your own against any macrame product — because a bag is the thing that demands every skill at once: a flat pattern, open netting, firm edges and the confidence to finish a real, three-dimensional object. Forty to fifty minutes, and you've made something you'll take outside with you.

What you'll learn: base netting — the final skill that lets you "hold" any macrame product. Finish this bag, and you can make almost anything.

Finish the bag that proves you can make anything — browse the hollow tote bag kit and take your handmade bag out the door.

Look at what just happened. You started with a leaf that barely needed a knot. You built a flat pattern with square knots, learned the Vertical Lark's Head, wrestled the Double Half Hitch in both directions, and finally made a bag out of everything you'd gathered.

Macrame is a wonderfully magical game — we learn the basic knots first, then learn how the knots combine with one another, including how the distance between knots changes everything. All of these small variations open up something wonderfully new. It can be a single line, or a piece of cloth, or a bag; what it becomes is entirely up to your hands. Isn't that wonderful? Come try it — a mysterious world of creating, waiting to be made.

New to macrame entirely? Start with what macrame actually is. Not sure a kit is for you? Here's what beginners should know before buying one. And the knots from this whole path live in our 7 Essential Macrame Knots guide.

A leaf wall hanging is the gentlest start — you barely need any knots, just time to get familiar with how macrame cord moves in your hands. If you'd rather make something instantly useful, a pet collar or a simple keychain is just as easy. Every project on this page is ordered from simplest to most advanced, so the leaf is the natural first seat.

About 20 to 30 minutes for a first-timer. A simple keychain mainly uses the Vertical Lark's Head Knot, and once you've tied it a couple of times you'll have the rhythm. It's one of the fastest beginner payoffs in macrame.

Yes — all you truly need is macrame cord, scissors and a ring or dowel to attach to. The advantage of a kit is that the exact cord length, piece count and every photographed step are printed in the booklet, so your time goes into knotting instead of guessing lengths.

Start with the very first ones in this list: a leaf wall hanging, a pet collar or a square coaster. They teach one knot at a time, so you build confidence before the harder knots arrive. Work down the list in order and each project quietly hands you the skill you'll need for the next.

No. Each project here needs just one or two knots, and the whole list is designed so you learn them one at a time — the square knot, then the Vertical Lark's Head, and later the Double Half Hitch in both directions. You learn by making, not by memorizing a long list first.

One uses a left cord as the axis and the right cord as the working cord (L2R), the other mirrors it (R2L). You wrap the working cord around the axis, but the wrapping direction is opposite, so the finished knot leans differently. They look alike and are the easiest pair to mix up — the hair clip kit is perfect for drilling both until they feel natural.

Yes, it works exactly the same; you'll simply mirror the left-right instructions, which every BUFANTL booklet and tutorial line up with how you naturally hold the cords. Learning both L2R and R2L early is actually a hidden advantage for left-handed makers.

Almost all of them. The shortest are the pet collar (10–20 minutes), the mini wall hanging and the photo hanging (each around 10–20 minutes). Even the slowest on this list, the small bag, takes only 40–50 minutes, so every project here fits a single calming session.