Beach Inspired American Flag

Celebrate the 4th of July with this fun project to show off to your friends. In this tutorial I will show you how easy it is to make your own original piece of art! It will be a conversation starter whether you decide to hang it inside or out! You can decide what colors to choose to match your décor or use the traditional colors, red, white and blue! I decided to use blue and white simply because my home décor is coastal.

 

 

A simple fun project !

Safety first!

Make sure you use your safety glasses!

You will also need...

A tape measure, painters tape, paint, paint brush,

 sander, hammer, punch,  square, pencil and nails.

 

I wanted a smooth look to my flag so I had my hubby remove the damaged planks for me.  He used a hand saw which worked fine. It actually cut through the nails no problem as you can see in the picture below. I think it's always interesting to have a rough natural look as well if you are going for a rustic look. We used a punch to remove the old nails!
            

 

I could get used to this directing business! Ha ha!

                                         
Next step is  to replace a new plank! Before you replace another one, make sure it fits. Use the square to draw a line and measure the amount you want to  remove from  the back part of the pallet . Leave about 2 inches on all three pieces to create a support if you decide to hang it! Then place a plank on either side of the pallet and one in the middle for more support!

 

Lightly sand to smooth out rough surfaces.Once you have sanded, tape off a square where your stars will go and paint the square whatever color you decide to use. I wanted a whitewash look so I watered down my paint. To achieve a whitewash look just mix equal parts of paint and water. You won't need that much to cover the area for your stars! After it's dry mix another color and paint your stripes! If you decide not to mix the paint with water and just have a solid color you could rough it up with sandpaper to achieve a rustic weathered look!

 

 

My home has a coastal flair so I decided to use starfish as my stars! Place your stars where you want them to go then use a hot glue gun to glue your stars in place. That's all there is to it! I would like to thank my husband for helping me with this project he did a wonderful job! I hope everyone has a safe and happy fourth of July!