Here’s another painting I did last weekend from reclaimed wood….a rustic American Flag for our outdoor living area. It took under 45 minutes to paint:
The only labor intensive part was making the canvas from a reclaimed wood pallet. First, the pallet was dismantled and then the pieces were attached to two boards:
Updated: Here’s the back view of the reclaimed wood so that you can see how it was put together:
I used blue tape to mask off the red stripes of the American flag:
I used a roller to apply the red paint. (I used the same type of paint used in the Coca-Cola Sign tutorial) I painted very erratically to give it a distressed and uneven feel:
The thin red layer only took a few minutes to dry:
Next I applied blue paint for the star area:
The red and the blue finished:
Next I masked off all the red and blue areas so that I could paint the white stripes:
To quickly apply the stars I cut a 16″ x 20″ stencil into vinyl using my Silhouette machine. Here’s template I set up…..if you have a Silhouette machine just click the image to download the template. You can resize it to your own canvas. Mine was so large that I had to print it in two pieces:
I applied the stencil to the wood and used my roller to apply a layer of white paint:
The finished American flag!
I love all the imperfections of the wood:
Worn and distressed….it looks old and vintage:
A piece like this would cost hundreds of dollars unless you made it yourself for under $20:
Update: The finished signs was about 50 x 34 inches.
Make sure to check out the Vintage-inspired Coca-Cola sign instructions if you get a chance!
Click here to see more Silhouette Projects!
Click here to see additional Painting Projects!
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Visit the following tutorial too! Click the image for the post:
WOWZA….I am in love! Lovin the patriotism 🙂
Thanks Christina!
Ashley, I love the reclaimed American Flag project. I am going to give it a try. First question, step one. LOL – I am not a pro at the DIY. Lol. Dismantle the palet and attach to two boards. Can I see a pic of the back?
Brandi, I added a photo of the back of the palette for you….see top of post 🙂
Perfect!!! Thank you.
Ashley, do you have the demensions of your flag? Like the length and width? That would explain the rest I think. I saw you used 2 inch tape.
My husband made us the same thing for our room as well! 🙂 http://chicrunner.com/2012/01/pallet-board-flag/
Beautiful! I would love to have this hanging up somewhere… hmmm… but I definitely want to do something with reclaimed wood to hang up in my bedroom!
-Madi
I love it! And my husband goes crazy for Americana anything so he would love this! Would you consider selling your pre-cut vinyl star template for those of us without a silhouette? Pretty please?? 🙂
This is great. What size tape did you use?
Hi Travis! The tape was about 2 inches. Thanks!
Love your website.
I made one yesterday using old porch boards.
Slight design change from yours concerning the stripes- the US flag has six full stripes below the stars, starting with white. Kinda tricky to get the dimensions right.
I love the precision of your stars.
Good job.
🙂
Hi I am about to make one of these for myself and I really like the bright colors of yours. Do you remember what shade of red and blue you used? I know its americana acrylic but was it cherry red and ultramarine blue?
Sorry, we don’t have the names but they were as close to primary red and blue as Ashley could find 🙂
Hi! I love the flag and am currently trying to make one of these myself. Can you give me the dimensions of the flag? I am trying to figure out how many boards to use.
Thank you!
It was about 50 x 34 inches.
What is the competed size of the board? I’m totally in love with this 🙂
It was about 50 x 34 inches. Thanks!
Would you be interested in selling this?