Thursday, August 16, 2012

Betsy Ross Flag

I found an old piece of scrap wood. I think it may have been a sign in a former life because the corners were already rounded.

I tried using spray paint but the wood was so old it just sucked it up and you could not tell I had painted at all. So I used a couple of layers of exterior paint as a primer then spray painted white. I would have liked to have left it distressed looking but the whole time I kept thinking how much paint I would need to use so my husband would realize it was suppose to look the way it does and not throw it out. He does not appreciate rust and chipped paint like I do.

Using a craft ruler apply tape to mark stripes. This was a tad tricky because the board was 21 1/2 inches tall. I needed 13 stripes and the taped was 1.41 inches wide. Way too much math! Reminds me of one of my dad's riddles.
 Mark off the field. I made mine too small. It is square and I thought that is what I was suppose to do. But it looked weird and I  had to fix it in the next step.

 Paint stripes red. I moved the right side of the field markings over a couple of inches making it more rectangular. Using a plate I laid out my stars. The stars on a Betsy Ross Flag are oriented out. Spray blue.
 All done. I think it needs to be toned down a bit. Sanded a little or something. Maybe once Ron gets use to it he won't notice if I shabby it up a little.

9 comments:

  1. This is darling! You did a great job!! SO COOL!!

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  2. Very cute! I am decorating my son's nursery in cowboy theme, using gray/brown/ and Navy and I have been thinking of a rustic american flag project to bring the whole room together. How did you make the stars- did you just hand paint?

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    1. Heavens No! I can barely spray paint! I found star stickers at Hobby Lobby. They are a bit bigger than the star stickers we use to get on school papers when we were kids. I put a plate in the center and spaced the stickers all around. You can kind of see them in the forth picture down.

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  3. GREAT JOB - I love it!!!

    Thank you so much for stopping by Lavender Hill - it's great to meet you! I'm off to peruse your lovely blog.....
    gena

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  4. I love this flag! I just found you on the Keep Calm and Link Up page.
    I am your newest follower! I am having a First Day of School Link Up and would love to have you.
    http://www.kyetrabelton.com

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  5. That is so awesome! Great job, I love it!

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  6. I think the flag is cute and bet it will look great when you make it shabby. If you want to tone it down even more, an antiquing gel or a wash of watered down brown paint (water the paint down, brush it on, dab it off) will make it look more rustic and American.

    Regarding your husband, I don't think any man gets the shabby, chipped look. My Mom and I are currently painting some furniture in my bedroom. My dad came to see what we were doing and kept questioning why we were painting, yet talking about sanding paint off to make it look old. So funny!

    Don't bother explaining it to him....just tell him this is the look you meant for it to be and let him shake his head wondering if you've lost your marbles. That's what I do anyway. Hee hee!

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  7. Somebody with a pinterest account needs to pin this. So stink-'in C-U-T-E

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