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    Home » DIY And Crafts

    Easy American Flag Craft

    Published by Pam Kessler | 748 words. · About 4 minutes to read this article. - 18 Comments

    So I had this GREAT idea for an American flag craft while out shopping at the local Home Depot the other day. Let's make a flag out of some beadboard.

    You know how much I love me some paneling. I just thought it would be a perfectly simple way to make a flag.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    Because beadboard has ready-made stripe lines, y'all!!!

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    They had these great little pieces of beadboard that looked like they would fit the bill. They are 32" x 48" and cost under $10 a piece.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?
    Perfect!

    I was destined to become the 4th Of July DIYer of the season with my genius idea!!! Look out HGTV, here I come!

    It wasn't until after I got it home that I realized that the number of "boards" on the beadboard panel was 12.

    A flag has 13 stripes.

    Oops! Or as Betsy Ross would say, "Oh, what a star spangled mess"!

    So now I have decided to do a "flag-like" craft project complete with air quotes.

    Not the right number of stripes, not the right number of stars, not the right dimensions. But perfect in its artistic interpretation of the spirit of the Old Glory.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?
    (BTW, you can see how I made this sailboat HERE.)

    Sometimes when life hands you beadboard, you have to make lemonade. Or something like that.

    Oh, the tutorial. Yeah, forgot that part.

    Paint it.

    In case you want a little more direction . . .

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    Farmhouse American Flag Craft Project Tutorial

    Supplies

    • 32" x 48" beadboard panel (I found mine at Home Depot, but Lowes, Menards or Joe's Local Hardware Emporium should carry them also)
    • red, white and blue paint (I went with Plaid's Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in the 2 oz mini bottles ($1.99 ish)
    • Clear wax (I used Plaid's Folk Art Home Decor Wax in the Clear color) OPTIONAL
    • Dark wax (I used Plaid's Folk Art Home Decor Wax in Antique color) OPTIONAL
    • large star stamp
    • foam paintbrushes
    • chipwood paintbrushes
    • masking tape or painter's tape
    • sand paper or sanding block
    • old t-shirts or lint free cloths

    Here's the paint I used,

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    the wax

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    and the stamp (I found this one at Hobby Lobby)

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    Instructions

    • Turn you beadboard paneling on its side.
    • Cuss at yourself, once again, for not counting the "stripes" at the store.
    • Tape off the area that you want to paint blue. You can make a somewhat traditional design like I did or go wild and be CREATIVE,

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • Paint that area blue.
    • Remove the tape and paint alternating stripes red. Just follow the lines of the beadboard. No need to be super duper precise, this is going to be distressed and rustic.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • I saw no reason to paint the other stripes white, because hey, they're white already.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • Allow paint to dry.
    • Run sandpaper or a sanding block over the surface if you want to rough it up to give it a bit of age.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • Here's a closer up view of some of the distressing on the "bead" part of the beadboard.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • Wipe off excess paint "dust". (If you've never used chalk paint before, it's very easy to distress and the residue is a very fine powder. Like chalk.)

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • Very lightly apply white paint to your star stamp and lightly press onto the blue background. You could do this prior to sanding, but I knew if I just put a little bit of paint on the stamp it would give me the look I wanted (messy, faded and imperfect).

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • Apply your clear wax, let dry and buff.
    • Apply your dark wax over it. (Putting dark was on over clear makes the dark wax easier to work with).
    • Freak out because this is your first time EVER using dark wax and you are thinking your wax is entirely too dark and you may have ruined this piece!!!

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    • Before it dries completely, run a damp rag over the piece to take off most of the dark wax. (If you want to skip this freak out step, just use the dark wax very sparingly).
    • Let wax dry and buff it to a shine.

    Your American flag craft is done.

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

    Let's see how many people do not read the tutorial, but will jump in and tell me I have the wrong number of stripes 🙂

    This American flag craft project is super cute and EASY to make . A quick patriotic DIY project for your 4th of July home decor. Did I mention it is easy?

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. taryterre

      June 07, 2016 at 1:02 pm

      LOVE it. Perfect for Flag day and the 4th.

      Reply
      • Pam

        June 07, 2016 at 3:33 pm

        Thank you!!!

        Reply
    2. Kim

      June 07, 2016 at 2:23 pm

      Hey, twelve stripes and six stars.....whose counting! I love it and have been trying to figure out how I can make one. I have seen many that don't have the correct number of anything. It's all for fun!

      Reply
      • Pam

        June 07, 2016 at 3:33 pm

        I know, right? It's the spirit of the decor that counts!

        Reply
    3. Brenda Kula-Pruitt

      June 07, 2016 at 3:39 pm

      To me it is perfection, Pam! As are your witty blog posts.
      Brenda

      Reply
    4. Barbara

      June 07, 2016 at 7:15 pm

      Cute, easy project! Yours looks great. Thanks for sharing your good ideas (you never have any bad ones!)

      Reply
    5. chris aka monkey

      June 07, 2016 at 7:29 pm

      paaammm the flag has 13 stripes, lmao this turned out way cool and can be displayed in so many ways... one of these days i am gonna make me one, after i finish the other hundred things on my to do list xx

      Reply
      • Pam

        June 07, 2016 at 7:49 pm

        There's one in every group 🙂

        Reply
        • susan

          June 26, 2016 at 9:59 pm

          Smirking

          Reply
    6. Stacey

      June 07, 2016 at 8:28 pm

      This is fun, Pam! I made something similar years ago and for some crazy reason I didn't keep it. Kick myself now every time I see a neat flag. Using the beadboard was pretty brilliant.

      Thank you so much for sharing this at Thoughts of Home on Thursday. I'll share on Facebook. 🙂

      Reply
    7. Donna

      June 07, 2016 at 8:34 pm

      doesn't the flag have 50 stars?? snicker...!! You know...to go with those 13 stripes...heh heh...
      I love the look, however, it's the tutorial I like better. You make these much more fun than anyone else I've tripped over!! I almost want to gear up and follow you into DIY land!!

      Reply
    8. Lou Ann

      June 07, 2016 at 8:40 pm

      Pam,
      this is adorable!! Who cares that it does not have enough strips or stars!! It still gets the point across. Patriotic at it's best!! Love the tutorial! Maybe one day I will make one!

      Reply
    9. Eme

      June 07, 2016 at 10:27 pm

      Cute, I am ashamed to admit I didn't know how many stripes there are. But you are set for Flag day and the 4th. I once kept my white picket fence gate from the garbage pile (had new fencing put in) and painted it as a flag. But I never sealed it and sadly, it didn't last long. But the beadboard is a good idea! Good job.

      Reply
      • Pam

        June 09, 2016 at 6:06 am

        The picket fence sounds adorable! I may have to try that some day!

        Reply
    10. Judy Clark

      June 07, 2016 at 11:08 pm

      Cute project. Would be so easy working with the already white beadboard. Thanks for the tutorial.

      Judy

      Reply
    11. shelley

      June 08, 2016 at 11:32 am

      I love bead board...the last 3 homes we have had I have used it....mainly in the bathrooms as wainscoting, we just moved into a new to us home and are doing some major updating...and bead board will be used...so we have contractors coming in for bids...the first one had NO IDEA what bead board is, he said "oh that must be a Colorado thing".....NO....we DID NOT go with that company....
      I love the flag project...might have to steal it...lol

      Reply
      • Pam

        June 09, 2016 at 6:06 am

        That's funny! I agree, if he's not familiar with something as common as beadboard then he probably isn't the guy for the job 🙂

        Reply
    12. melinda

      June 12, 2016 at 9:59 pm

      LOVE. LOVE. LOVE it !!!!

      M " )

      Reply

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