How to Make a Nautical Wood Post

Nail the end of a 1-inch rope toward the bottom of the shortest post, then nail the rope to the post a second time a few inches beneath the first nail.

Stand the posts on end and arrange them the way you want them to be tied together, then secure them with bungee cords. Place one around the base of all three posts, beneath the lowest nail. Place the other bungee cord around the higher two posts, toward the top of the middle post. Make sure the part of the post where you nailed the rope faces the inside of the arrangement, where it will not show.

Wrap the rope, from where it emerges from the center of the bundle, around all three posts in four tight, successive wraps that touch each other. Make each wrap above the previous wrap.

Continue to wrap the rope, but on a diagonal, until it is above the lowest post. Make four more wraps that bind together the taller posts, each wrap immediately above the last one.

Cut the rope to leave yourself about 2 feet to work with. Tuck the loose end down one of the V-shaped channels that is created between the rope wraps and the curvature of the highest two posts where they touch one another. The channels are located on either side of the point where the posts touch. Pull down on the rope from where it emerges from the bottom of the channel.

Apply increasing pressure until the rope works itself out of the channel and becomes trapped beneath the last four wraps that you made. Make sure the rope is at least 3 inches away from the channel to be sure it does not slip back into it. Cut the rope where it emerges from beneath the wraps.