Paracord Desert Flower Medallion

All creative souls,

I never thought working with paracord would be so much fun until today. It is proved over & over again and today that there is no creative inspiration source better than instructables, I love you .

Paracord projects always amazed me and I thought they are too difficult to work with but having seen here so many of them, few days back I finally decided to get my hands dirty and I am so glad that I did.

This project is a decorative flower, known as Desert Flower created to look like a medallion or pendant. It can be a lovely gift and can also be wore as a neck piece. Very unique.

Please don't get overwhelmed by so many number of steps, you will find them very easy to work with, step-by-step.

I tired to incorporate all my learnings into this instructable, some of them are very basic and I hope it will help beginners like me.

This is my first ever paracord project and I worked really hard to put this up as an instructable. I hope you will like it and vote for it.


Lets begin.

Step 1: Stuff That You Will Need

To make this paracord medallion, you would need the following:

1. 1 paracord of 5 ft length of color of your choice (white in this ible)
2. 1 paracord off 6 ft length of color of your choice (red in this ible)
3. A sharp scissor.
4. A cigarette lighter.

You can increase the length of the cords to make a bigger medallion.

Step 2: Singeing

This is a process of sealing the ends of the paracord, so that they are secured and do not open up. Singeing is a very simple process but needs to be done carefully. You can use a cigarette lighter or a butane torch to heat up the ends.
Heat up the ends as shown in the picture above and press it by some metal object or pliers. You only need to expose the cords to flame for few seconds.

It is that simple. We singe at the end of this project.

NOTE: Experts recommend that before you start working with your cords, you may want to singe their ends to avoid opening of the woven nylon threads.

Step 3: Find the Middle of the Cords

From the middle of the cords, arrange the cords as shown in the image above, shorter cord inside (white in this case).

Step 4: Pull Short Cord 1.5 Inch Below and Behind the Long Cord.

Step 5: Cross the White Cord From Back Such That the Left End of the White Cord Is Below Right End.

Step 6: Pull the White Cord at Least 1 Feet (more If You Want a Longer) Below

Step 7: At the Point Where White Cord Cross, Circle the Left Red Cord

Step 8: Around the Crossed Cords

Step 9: Pull the Cords Untill Firm

Step 10: Flip the Entire Arrangement Horizontally

Step 11: Create a Cross Using the White Back Cords

Step 12: Circle the Left Red Cord Around the Crossed White Cord and Tighten

Step 13: Repeat Step 5-11 Untill 14 or More Petals Are Formed

Step 14: Bend the Fob and Pull First Petal From the Top

Step 15: Pull the Petal Till a Small Loop at the Left End of the Fob Is Formed

Step 16: Pick the Red Cord From Left and Insert It Into the Loop on Right

Step 17: Pull the First Petal Completly to Tighten the Loop and Secure the Red Cord Inside.

Step 18: Pull the Red Cord to Bring the Two Ends of the Fob Closer.

Pull petals on the left completely one by one till the big loop reach in the middle of the flower.

Step 19: Notice the Hanging Cords, We Will Tie Them With 4-strand Diamond Cord

Since I am new to knots, I had a hard time learning the knots, but I finally figured out this knot. Also I was not able to shoot picture while I was making the knot below the flower, so for the sake of demonstration I used two separate cords to show 4-strand diamond knot. The steps are.

1. Intersect the red and white cords as shown in image 1.
2. Bend the white cords as shown in image 2 & 3.
3. Insert the red cords inside the white loops as shown in image 4 & 5.
4. Insert the top left white cord from below the bottom left red cord into the center of the cross knot (yes the previous arrangement of cords is called cross knot). See Image 6.
5. Repeat 4 clockwise for remaining three cords such that all cords are peeking out in the middle of cross knot (image 7).
6. Adjust and tighten the cords until firm.

Step 20: Snip the Cords to Desired Length and Singe :)

Step 21: Showtime

Your beautiful & unique desert flower medallion is ready.

I really enjoyed working with paracord, I think I am going to make more stuff using it.

Thank you for your time to read this ible. I hope you have liked it.

Please vote.

You are awesome.

Stay tuned :)