I decided to get all Betsy Ross on you this weekend and made myself a new flag.
Sure, it doesn't have the required number of stripes. Or stars for that matter. Or the right colors.
It's more like a artistic representation of Old Glory.
DIY Rustic Farmhouse Flag
Supplies Needed:
21" tall x 34" wide piece of thin plywood
4.5 yards of 3 ½" wide jute upholstery webbing
6 tin star shaped Jello molds
Blue craft paint - Uniform Blue by Americana is a nice patriotic shade of blue
Spray adhesive
Glue gun
Other:
Paint brush, ruler, scissors, pencil
Band-aids if you are clumsy with the glue gun **sheepishly raises hand**
Start out by placing your stars in the top left hand corner. I happened to find 6 of these old Jello molds at the thrift store, so that is what I went with.
You could always use more or less. I'm not going to tell the craft police on you.
And I just sort of eyeballed where I thought they'd look good.
And then using that as a rough guide, I made some light pencil marks to outline where the blue background was going to be.
The top blue rectangle area comes out to be 10.5 inches tall by 15 inches wide. I got the 10.5 inches because it's one half of the height of the board and that would mean there would be three short rows on the top half and three long rows on the bottom half (3 rows of 3.5" wide webbing = 10.5").
And symmetry is a good thing. A very good thing.
I squirted some of the blue paint out into a bowl and added a smidge of water to it to make it slightly soupy.
And painted my rough rectangle.
And then after a few minutes, I took a wet paper towel and drug (is that the correct word?) it across the blue paint to take most of it off and let the wood peek through.
I was going for a weathered look here.
You can see that I was not super careful about my paint lines. No expensive tape was used to make sharp edges.
In fact, I actually painted a little bit past the pencil marks for good measure, since any extra is covered by the upholstery webbing anyhow.
Cut out your three pieces for the bottom rows - 34 inches long.
Use your spray adhesive to adhere the webbing pieces to the bottom of the board, butting them right up against each other.
Cut out your three pieces for the top rows - 19 inches wide. And glue them on.
All that's left is to glue your stars onto the wood with your glue gun.
Warning - who knew that putting boiling hot glue from the glue gun onto a tin star would then heat up the star. OK, it's not scalding hot, but it did heat them up a bit. Be a bit careful while handling them.
And you're done.
Start to finish 20-30 minutes, if you're not picky about your paint drying thoroughly before gluing stars. I am not picky.
If you wish to hang it you could drill holes in the top and run some jute twine through them. I'm going to use mine setting on a table, so no need to drag out the power tools for me.
Speaking of power tools, I had this piece of wood in my garage, but if you need to buy wood you can have the guys/gals at Home Depot cut it for you. Yes, they will cut wood for you for free. As in F to the R to the E to the E!
I assume our friends at Lowes do the same.
If you're looking for more patriotic decor ides:
Retro Picnic Supplies For Your Fourth Of July Barbecue
4th Of July Vintage Postcard Printables
Top 10 Patriotic Projects, Recipes And Decor
Vintage Eclectic Meets Farmhouse: 4th Of July Style
Have you been connecting with your inner Betsy Ross this summer?
Carlene @ Organized Clutter
Very cool use of the Jello stars. Never thought of using jute webbing either! Clever.
Melissa
What a fun DIY!
www.mysoulfulhome.com
Super creative!! LOVE IT!!
[email protected] Salvaged Treasures
I LOVE this! You are just so darn clever!
Shelley Kuhn
saw the jute at Hobby Lobby....they have wide like yours and thinner....cute idea
Sherri S.
Love this - great idea!!
Hope you have a very BLESSED week...
~Sherri
reFresh reStyle
Love it and I think I have some of those stars in my stash 🙂
Debbie
Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces
This looks so great...I LOVE the upholstery webbing! Thanks for sharing!
monkey
extra special use of the old noggin xx
Shara
This is really a great idea! I love those old molds. I bought and bought and hoarded then forbid myself from ever buying anymore - NOW I use them and I am running low on them. My toadstools have been a hit lately. I also think the stars would look good turned around like little cups on the flag. You could even add a Dennison star to each one. LOVE IT - 🙂
mnoble
I have these little star molds and a big one too. I'm not sure if I have 6 though and I bought them at a yard sale to use for actual cooking/baking but don't think I've used them yet.
TARYTERRE
That is charming. Perfect for the season.
Jill Greenlaw
I love flag crafts. This looks super simple to make and I love the use of cooking tins in it.
BucksCountyFolkArt
LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!!
Vickie @ Ranger 911
I love your folk art flag, Pam! I should make one because every year I seem to misplace my outdoor flag. I've already missed Memorial Day and Flag Day and can only hope it turns up in the laundry before July 4th!
Ah, don't assume the folks at Lowe's will cut your wood to your specs. Nope. I've learned to only ask the young employees who love to play with saws. They'll do whatever I ask. As far as the old codgers that work at ours....do not make eye contact and look for the youngsters.
[email protected]
How cute is that? Love it 🙂
Musings from Kim K.
Totally LOVE this idea. Good tip about the glue gun and metal. I learned the hard way when using jello molds to make decorative miniature baskets.
ThrifterSisters
I'm heading out to the shed today to drag in all of my 4th of July decorations. While I'm out there, I am going to dig through the random boxes out there because I just know I have some of those stars! This looks like a pretty easy project, even for a self-proclaimed Non-Crafty person like me!
Dragging and digging? Isn't holiday decorating supposed to be fun?
Erica
Laura Kuhlmann
Love, love, love!!!!
Sharon @ mrshinesclass
Love your creative version of the flag. It's perfect for 4th of July.