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:
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.
I bought a 4×4 sheet of plywood at the home improvement store and started by rolling it with white paint.
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.)
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. . .
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.
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.)
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!
Love this, Emily! It looks great on your patio.
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.
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!!
That is such a fun project to do with the kids and a great piece of outdoor art!
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.
Love it all! Your patio looks great. I have to decorate my patio now for the 4th!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh good! Love that top :)
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!
It turned out fantastic! I love it. :)
Emily – flag looks great. Is that a mantel on your outside brick wall. Thanks.
No, just a console table. Although, I just bought an old mantel I’m thinking of using there :)
I am liking what I see….wish I could get the urge to paint myself one:)
What a fun and festive project! Love your patio.
Great project for the 4th of July! This is really inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Love it! Perfect statement piece for July 4th
Looks great, very creative!
Love the impact of a big piece of art and the fun patriotic statement!! : )
Could you tell me about the side table on the top picture to the left?
I love this, Emily! So festive. And those chairs are to die for!
Sarah
http://www.sarahsdaybook.wordpress.com
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!!
Yes and yes! We’ve had them for a couple of years now and love them.
Thank you for replying!! I just ordered two for my patio!:)
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!
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.
I’m pretty sure I found it at Michael’s.
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
Love your American Flag project……could you give any advice on how you placed stars? Thankyou