BUT COULDN'T I JUST DO IT MYSELF

My first instinct is always “but couldn’t I just do it myself”. I’ve been like this since a little kid and after all these years, nothing has changed. Sometimes it bites me in the you know what - but oftentimes - it works out in my favor. Last week I posted in my weekly newsletter that I wanted to recreate this piece of rope art (pictured below) that one of my favorite bloggers has hanging in her home. She paid hundreds for it, and after scrolling through Etsy trying to find the “look for less” in popped my instinct - “couldn’t I just make it myself?” And that’s when I had the idea to try and find some old beat up rope and make something using this piece as inspiration.

I’m telling you - you can find anything out on these internets! Just a short description in any search engine can direct you to whatever you’re looking for - and then some. I found this rope below for $9.87 w/free shipping from a vintage seller on Etsy and the description read: “My husband always says "who would buy that old thing?" Let's just say he is not a connoisseur of vintage. Who couldn't use an old rope? Perfect if you have a pulley that needs display, or as a movie prop (can't use a NEW rope right?), nautical display, hang a plant, so many ideas! This was my dad's (g-pa as the kids call him) and it has concrete stains and a frayed end and a knot on the other end. Its a vintage - rustic - primitive - rough-textured rope that measures: 6 yards and 22 inches, or 18 feet and 10 inches.” SOLD!!! I immediately purchased it and 3 days later it was sitting in my mailbox.

When I opened up the box and pulled out the rope, there was a double-knot tied on one end and that gave me an idea. Instead of doing the fringed look like the inspirational picture above, I decided that I was going to tie double-knots at the end of each set of ropes. Here was my process (which took all of 30 minutes on Wednesday afternoon):

1. I cut the very long rope into 4 pieces. I tried to get a 5th piece out of it, but I didn’t want to sacrifice the length, so now I have a smaller piece that I will use for another project including my pottery.

2. I then tied a knot on each end of the rope.

3. And then I double-knotted each end of the rope because I wanted more of a chunky feel to the piece.

I love some of the cement splatters throughout the rope - it adds even more character!

4. Here are all 4 pieces of rope tied with double knots on the end. While in my hand I started to move the rope around so that the knots were at various lengths - I didn’t want them to be even.

5. Lastly I tied all four pieces of rope into one single knot and again played around with the placement of the knots - and basically, that’s it.

Here’s the finished piece and I could not be more happy with it. For a little over $10, this piece of art is absolutely the look and the pop that I was going for in this space. I can’t wait to show off this tiny space of mine real soon. All I need is my mirror (which I just received a notification that it’s backordered) and ceiling light to come in and then I will do my final reveal. I’ll let you in on a little secret - it’s going to be sooo good!