Scrap Wood American Flag

Bee — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 20:40:00 +0000

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One of my closest friends was in love with the Pottery Barn American Flag art… with good reason, so pretty!
But as a lot of us can sympathize… not in love with the price!
She is one of the most giving people that I know- a truly selfless person- and has done so much for our family- so I wanted to give back to her. This may be a random way- but it’s something I could surprise her with because she rarely asks for anything in return!
So off to Lowes I (we) went. (The boys and I may or may not have been banned from the plumbing section… don’t ask). I searched the molding isle and even considered using fence planks- but she wanted it above her mantel and I wanted the look without the weight. At that point, I remembered that I had some scrap wood at home that was fairly thin and could probably do the job. I just bought some smaller pieces to attach it all together for support.
So… behold my version! Below you will find the tutorial:)

Tutorial:

1. Gather wood scraps and play around with your placement

2. Using wood glue or liquid nails (what I had on hand) connect two boards and clamp

3. Once those are dry- attach all sections together- once the glue is tacky (it might still come apart but just rest them together) lay the two cross boards across the back with liquid nails on them and place heavy books or soup cans on the top to apply pressure until dry.

4. Once all of that is dry- I did short screws through the cross boards to reinforce the liquid nails.

5. Flip over and at this point you can either paint or stain. I stained mine first so that it would show through the paint treatment.

6. I wanted mine to have an old weathered look- so I used two different stains- I did one very messy and uneven coat of grey stain and then immediately went over that with a dark walnut. It came out super pretty!

7. After the stain was dry, I taped off where I wanted the stars to be placed. I then cut out the amount of stars I wanted and tested placement- then I poured some Pure White Annie Sloan Chalk paint onto my trusty Costco paper plate (these come in handy for me so often!) and then lightly placed the star into the white paint. I know- sounds crazy but stay with me! I then put the star with the paint down into position- repeat with all stars.

8. Lightly press all of the stars down so they are sticking to the surface with the paint-

9. Then on another paper plate (see!) I mixed some Annie Sloan Napoleonic Blue with a bit of water, and did fast brushes over that whole section. Once that was on- I immediately started pulling up the paper stars- which left a rugged star! yay!

10. I then watered down both the Annie Sloan Pure White and the Emperors Silk Red and did very quick coverage over the stripes- because I wanted it to look weathered and be able to see the wood stain through.

11. Attach hangers to the back and you are done!

Have you done any summer decorating? I am working on another staining project that will include a giveaway so stay tuned for that!
xoxo
B

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