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Emily A. Clark

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DIY Painted American Flag

June 23, 2014

DIY painted American flag

With the Fourth of July quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to create a patriotic backdrop for summer get-togethers. The American flag seemed like the obvious choice. I’ve always liked the look of the flag painted on the side of old barns and wanted to create a similar look. This project is easy and only requires a few supplies:

painted-flag-supplies

I started by picking up some paint chips. One thing I appreciate about Glidden® paint is that they offer a simplified color palette instead of 1001 choices. It took this (sometimes) indecisive girl less than five minutes to settle on Glidden paint’s Red Delicious (GLR30) and Glidden paint’s Rich Navy (GLB25).  I used Glidden Duo (paint and primer in one) in a flat sheen since I didn’t want this project to look too “shiny new” when it was finished.

Glidden duo paint + primer

 

I bought a 4×4 sheet of plywood at the home improvement store and started by rolling it with white paint.

plywood

 

Once that was finished, it was time to start marking and taping my stripes. Why does it always turn out to be some oddball number when you’re trying to calculate stripe width?! I ended up “loosely” marking them off between 3.5 and 3.75 inches and then taped them off with painter’s tape. (Luckily, perfection isn’t a requirement for this project.)

calculating-stripes

taping-stripes

painting-stripes

 

After I marked off and painted a blue square in the corner, I found a spare lamp shade to pencil a perfect circle. I decided to go with a Colonial flag to make the star stenciling a little easier. . .

painted-flag

stenciling stars

painted American flag sign

 

Once it was all dry, I sanded it down—a lot. I think this is the most important step because it gives it some character (instead of looking like you just painted a spanking new flag in your garage. . . ). I sanded it more in some spots than others to give it a weathered look.

sanding

 

It’s fairly lightweight so for now, it’s just leaning against the brick wall on our patio (although you could put hanging hardware on the back—or drill holes and hang it with a rope.)

DIY painted American flag

Fourth of July decorations

Decorating our patio

 

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Glidden paint through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Glidden paint, all opinions are my own.

 

PS–I’m taking a little vacation from blogging for the next few days. See you later this week!

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Filed Under: DIY, our home, outdoor spaces, paint colors, seasonal decorating Tagged With: decorating, DIY, DIY projects, Fourth of July, holiday, paint, patio

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brandi says

    June 23, 2014 at 8:57 am

    Love this, Emily! It looks great on your patio.

    Reply
  2. Marty says

    June 23, 2014 at 9:22 am

    Looks very cool!! You did a great job. Glidden Rich Navy is my favorite navy. I’ve painted two mirrors in it for my house.

    Reply
  3. courtney {a thoughtful place} says

    June 23, 2014 at 10:33 am

    I adore this! The funny thing is we just came from looking at a beach house that had something similar and I was wondering if I could pull it off. Here it is!!

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth @ The Little Black Door says

    June 23, 2014 at 12:11 pm

    That is such a fun project to do with the kids and a great piece of outdoor art!

    Reply
  5. Tracy Laverty says

    June 23, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    I want to make one of these too! I love how large yours is. It looks so good on your patio. You always style your pictures so well.

    Reply
  6. Caitlin @ thepicketfenceprojects.blogspot.com says

    June 23, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    Love it all! Your patio looks great. I have to decorate my patio now for the 4th!

    Reply
  7. Katharine says

    June 23, 2014 at 1:31 pm

    This is off topic but I have to THANK YOU for pinning the Roberta Roller Rabbit top from Piperlime. I randomly saw it and looked it up, ordered it and it is so far the only thing in this universe that makes this big pregnant girl smile this summer!!!! Now I want all the colors! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      June 23, 2014 at 1:58 pm

      Oh good! Love that top :)

      Reply
  8. Amy Tausk says

    June 23, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    Emily you are so creative! I just always love getting on your blog and seeing what you’ve cooked up! Your outdoor patio looks fab!

    Reply
  9. Megan @ Our PInteresting Family says

    June 23, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    It turned out fantastic! I love it. :)

    Reply
  10. Tricia says

    June 23, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    Emily – flag looks great. Is that a mantel on your outside brick wall. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      June 23, 2014 at 5:34 pm

      No, just a console table. Although, I just bought an old mantel I’m thinking of using there :)

      Reply
  11. sherry hart says

    June 23, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    I am liking what I see….wish I could get the urge to paint myself one:)

    Reply
  12. Jennifer @ Dimples and Tangles says

    June 23, 2014 at 9:29 pm

    What a fun and festive project! Love your patio.

    Reply
  13. Nadia says

    June 24, 2014 at 12:38 am

    Great project for the 4th of July! This is really inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  14. [email protected] says

    June 24, 2014 at 8:28 am

    Love it! Perfect statement piece for July 4th

    Reply
  15. Gwen, The Makerista says

    June 24, 2014 at 10:59 am

    Looks great, very creative!

    Reply
  16. Pam @ Simple Details says

    June 24, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    Love the impact of a big piece of art and the fun patriotic statement!! : )

    Reply
  17. Edit says

    June 25, 2014 at 12:47 am

    Could you tell me about the side table on the top picture to the left?

    Reply
  18. Sarah @ Sarah's Daybook says

    June 25, 2014 at 8:11 am

    I love this, Emily! So festive. And those chairs are to die for!

    Sarah

    http://www.sarahsdaybook.wordpress.com

    Reply
  19. jamie says

    June 27, 2014 at 3:16 pm

    Love this! Are those chairs from Target? They look very similar to the ones I’m considering ordering. If so, would you recommend them?? Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      June 27, 2014 at 7:06 pm

      Yes and yes! We’ve had them for a couple of years now and love them.

      Reply
      • Jamie says

        June 28, 2014 at 9:27 pm

        Thank you for replying!! I just ordered two for my patio!:)

        Reply
  20. Jeremy Minick says

    August 12, 2015 at 9:26 am

    Emily, just stumbled upon this blog and am so glad I did! You’ve got great ideas here, as well as a clean and well-focused display. The flag idea is great and I think it will make a nice gift for a few of my friends. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  21. Kathy L says

    October 17, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    Looks great Emily! Where did you get your stars stencil? I have one and it is starting to rip apart so I need to find a new one.

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      October 18, 2015 at 9:28 am

      I’m pretty sure I found it at Michael’s.

      Reply
  22. Thomas Rohe says

    March 30, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    Thanks for sharing your tips and techniques! I’m about to repurpose some rotten, old, fencing into an American Flag and was searching for colors. Found it! I really appreciate the source for the stars. Keep up the inspiring work!
    Thanks!
    Tom

    Reply
  23. Mary says

    July 1, 2019 at 9:23 am

    Love your American Flag project……could you give any advice on how you placed stars? Thankyou

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Front Porch Faves: Home Decorating Blogs says:
    July 2, 2014 at 10:05 am

    […] Post: DIY Painted American Flag […]

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