152pc Macrame Kit: My Honest Review, Good and Bad

I will be honest with you: I bought the ZXCDINO 152pc macrame kit mostly because I wanted the cord. At 220 yards of 3mm natural cotton, it seemed like the sensible way to stock up without driving to three different craft stores. What I did not expect was how much of the kit I would actually use, and what I did not expect was how much of it I would set aside.

This is the honest review I wish someone had handed me before I ordered. I am Marlene, I have been crafting for about 25 years, and I made four projects with this kit over the last month at my kitchen table and in my craft room. Some of it was wonderful. Some of it was frustrating. And a few things genuinely surprised me.

What Nobody Tells You Before You Order

Here is the thing every listing photo skips: this is a supplier kit, not a finished-project kit. The box does not contain patterns for a wall hanging or a plant hanger. It contains 152 pieces of material, and what you do with them is up to you. That is exactly what I wanted, but I have seen plenty of reviews from people who expected a project and were disappointed.

The second thing nobody tells you: 220 yards of 3mm cord is a lot. It is roughly enough for a good-sized wall hanging and a plant hanger and still have cord left over. When I first opened the box I thought the roll looked smaller than I expected. Then I started cutting and it kept going. If you are used to buying cord by the project, this kit will change how you think about your stash.

The third thing nobody tells you is how much space the roll takes up once you start working with it. I cleared the long folding table in my craft room on the first Saturday morning, unrolled about ten feet of cord to cut my first set of strands, and realized I needed a second place to keep the working lengths separate from the roll. Biscuit, my beagle mix, was asleep under the table the whole time, and I kept every loose end up on the tabletop because I know exactly what happens to yarn and ribbon when it hits the floor in this house. By the end of that first morning I had learned to cut all the strands for one project first, coil each one loosely, and only then start knotting. That one small habit saved me more untangling than I can count.

The fourth thing: the beads are plain. They are functional and fine for adding weight and a little texture to the bottom of a hanging piece, but do not expect fancy wooden beads with grain. They are simple, and they do the job.

What Is Actually in the Box

The ZXCDINO 152pc macrame kit includes one roll of 3mm x 220 yard macrame cord, one macrame knot instruction manual, beads, and additional unique materials. The brand describes it as a versatile macrame craft kit component set with natural cotton cord. That description is accurate. It is components, not a project.

The cord is made of natural cotton. It is soft, it has no smell, and it is not dyed or bleached. That matters more than you might think. Some cords I have bought over the years smell faintly of chemicals and leave your hands feeling dusty. This one did not. I worked with it for a full evening and my hands were clean and dry afterward.

The box itself is nothing special, just a plain cardboard box with the pieces inside. I opened it on a Tuesday morning after it spent the night on the front porch. The cord was coiled in a loose roll, the manual was on top, and the beads were in a small bag. Nothing was tangled, nothing was crushed, and nothing smelled like a warehouse. That sounds like a small thing, but I have ordered craft supplies that arrived looking like they had been through a washing machine. This one arrived ready to use.

The instruction manual covers 11 basic knots. For a beginner that is genuinely useful. It will not teach you how to design a piece, but it will teach you the knots you need to start, and it is written for weaving beginners. I have been doing this long enough that I only needed it for one knot I do not use often, but I would have been glad to have it when I first started.

How I Tested It: Four Projects in a Month

I did not just open the box and admire the cord. I put it to work. My first project was a small wall hanging for the wall above my craft table. I used about 40 yards of cord and a handful of beads. The cord held its shape well, the knots stayed tight, and the fringe untangled easily when I combed it out.

My second project was a plant hanger for the kitchen window. This is where the 3mm cord really shines. It is thin enough to make neat, tight knots around a pot, and soft enough that it does not fight you the way stiffer cords do. The hanger has held a four-pound pot for three weeks now and the knots have not budged. I made this one on a Tuesday afternoon while Ron was out running errands, and I remember thinking that the cord was doing exactly what I hoped it would. It wrapped around the pot rim without slipping, the four strands came together evenly, and I did not have to redo a single knot. That almost never happens on a first try for me.

My third project was a set of four small coasters. This is where I hit the one real limitation: the cord is not the softest cotton I have ever worked with. It is soft, yes, but it is also slightly springy, which means your knots can loosen a little as you work if you are not careful to pull each one snug. For a wall hanging that does not matter. For coasters that get handled, it means going back and tightening. I finished the first coaster on a Thursday evening, set it on the table, and by Saturday morning two of the knots along the edge had worked themselves loose just from being picked up and set back down. I tightened them, and then I tightened all the rest before I called the set done.

My fourth project was a decorative piece for the church bazaar table, a small piece with beads along the bottom. This is where I learned to love the beads. They give the bottom edge a nice weight so the piece hangs straight. I would not use them on everything, but for this piece they were exactly right. I strung the beads on the fringe one evening while I watched the news, and it took me about an hour to do all of them. The weight made the difference. The piece hung flat against the back of the chair I draped it over, and when I held it up to the window, the bottom edge did not curl the way unweighted fringe sometimes does.

The 220 yards of natural cotton cord is the real story here. I used about a third of it on four projects and still have plenty left for the next two things I want to make.

The Good: What I Genuinely Liked

The cord. Let me say it plainly. The ZXCDINO cord is good cord. It is natural cotton, it is soft, it has no smell, and at 3mm it is the right size for most wall hangings and plant hangers. It unties quickly when you make a mistake, which I did often enough in the first week. That alone saved me from wasting a lot of material.

The value. You get enough material to make several finished pieces yourself. That is the whole appeal of this kit to me. I make things for my own house and for the church bazaar, and I would rather make three pieces than buy one. When I added up what I used on the four projects, I figured I had made a wall hanging, a plant hanger, four coasters, and a bazaar piece from about a third of the roll. The rest is still coiled in a basket on my pegboard shelf, waiting for the next idea. That is the kind of stash I like to have on hand.

The beads. They are plain, but they are useful. They add weight to the bottom of a hanging piece, which helps it hang straight. They also add a little visual texture when you space them evenly along the fringe. I used them on two of my four projects and I will use them again.

The manual. The 11 basic knots are clearly explained and easy to follow. If you are new to macrame, this is the difference between a frustrating evening and a productive one. It is not a pattern book, but it is a solid starting point.

The Bad: What I Would Change

The biggest frustration was the lack of project ideas. The listing shows beautiful finished pieces, but the box does not include patterns for any of them. If you are the kind of crafter who needs a picture to follow, you will need to look up patterns online or in books. That is not a dealbreaker for me, but it is a real gap between what the listing suggests and what the box delivers. I knew this before I ordered because I read the product description carefully, and I still found myself wishing, on the second project, that I had a diagram to follow for the plant hanger. I ended up using a pattern from an old book I have had since the 1990s, and it worked out fine, but a beginner might not have that on hand.

The beads are also more limited than I hoped. The kit includes beads, but they are all similar in size and style. There is not a mix of large and small, or different shapes, that would give you more design options. For a basic first project they are fine. For someone who wants to make varied pieces, you will probably buy additional beads.

And the cord, while good, is not the softest cotton I have worked with. It has a slight spring to it. You can work with it, and I did, but you need to be disciplined about pulling each knot snug. If you are used to a very soft, drapey cord, this one will feel a little more structured. I noticed it most on the coasters, where I had to go back and tighten knots after the first day. On the wall hanging and the plant hanger, the structure actually helped the pieces hold their shape. So this is not a flaw so much as a personality trait. It just means you should match the cord to the project.

Who This Is For

This kit is for the crafter who wants to stock up on good cord without a lot of fuss and is comfortable finding their own patterns. It is for the person who already knows they like macrame, or who is willing to learn the basic knots from the included manual and then practice. It is for the person who wants to make a wall hanging, a plant hanger, or a set of small decorative pieces without buying a lot of separate materials.

It is also for the person who, like me, likes having a generous stash. This is not a kit you will use up in one afternoon. It is a kit you will reach for again and again, and that is a good thing.

Who Should Skip It

Skip this kit if you want a complete project with step-by-step instructions for a finished piece. This is a supplier kit, and if you go in expecting a pattern, you will be disappointed. Skip it if you want a very soft, drapey cord for delicate pieces. The 3mm cotton is structured and works best for pieces that need to hold their shape.

And skip it if you are looking for a wide variety of beads. The beads are a nice extra, but they are not the star of this kit. The cord is the star. I would also say this: if you are brand new to macrame and you want your very first project to come out looking like the photos, give yourself time to practice the knots on scrap cord before you cut into the good roll. The manual will get you there, but it will not do the knotting for you.

What I Would Tell a Friend

If you are on the fence about the ZXCDINO 152pc macrame kit, here is my honest advice. Buy it for the cord. The 220 yards of natural cotton cord is worth it on its own. Treat the beads and the manual as a bonus, and plan to look up patterns online for your first project.

And give yourself a little grace when you start. The first knots will be loose. The first fringe will be uneven. That is normal. The cord unties quickly, so mistakes are easy to fix, and before long you will have a piece you are proud to hang on your own wall. I would also tell you to tighten every knot as you go instead of waiting until the end, keep the loose ends up off the floor if you have a dog who collects yarn, and give yourself a full evening for your first project so you are not rushing. Those small habits made more difference to my month with this kit than anything else.