Flag Tutorial...

I love the 4th of July and often get a little carried away with decorating.  I was inspired to make a new flag decoration by this post from the amazing women at How Does She.  (If you haven't checked out their blog you should take a peek!)

My first step was to cut the wood.  I sketched out a picture on graph paper first to make sure my dimensions fit together.  (I was really glad I took this extra step because I ended up adjusting the lengths before I cut the wood!)  I cut 2 pieces 2 1/2 x 13", 2 pieces 2 1/2 x 19" and one piece 5 x 6".

After the wood was cut, I chose red, white and blue fabrics.  The inspiration flag used paper, which was my original plan.  As it turned out, I didn't have enough red paper that I liked, but I did have some great fabrics.  I applied the fabric strips with mod podge just like I would paper.

I set the pieces aside to dry and painted the wooden stars.  These stars were purchased at a craft store for another project and I found them when I was looking for fabric! I used white wash paint, so the grain of the wood still shows, but they appear white. 

Once the mod podge was dry I set out the pieces to form a flag and marked where I would drill holes.  I didn't measure because I wanted a more rustic look.  I compared the wire I was going to be using to the drill bits I had available and chose a drill bit just a bit larger than the gauge of the wire.

Once the holes were drilled, I cut pieces of copper wire to attach the parts of the flag.  I ended up using wire pieces about 3" long.   I threaded the wire into the holes from the back of the boards and twisted the ends together into a knot using needle nosed pliers.  I also drilled a two holes on the top of the flag and attached a wire for hanging.  I threaded the wire through from the back and twisted it a couple times to create a knot.  Before I hung the finished flag, I glued the stars on with wood glue.

I think this looks great on my front porch!

What's your favorite 4th of July decoration?