DIY wood tags for Fourth of July made from a 1x4. Tiered tray rustic farmhouse wooden tags for the 4th of July. Red white and blue patriotic farmhouse rustic DIY decorations for coffee bar.

DIY 4th of July wood tags

How to make easy wood tags for you 4th of July rustic farmhouse décor

I love those little wood tags. They are oh so cute and fit perfectly on a farmhouse style tiered tray. You can literally create these wooden tags for any occasion or season AND they are SO cheap to make! Especially if you have scrap pieces of 1×4’s around.

For my 4th of July themed coffee bar I told myself to get an early start because I would totally put it off and not make all the things in time to both share with you all AND get my display up in time to enjoy it for the holiday. So I got my butt in gear, cut myself some wooden tags, put on some makeup & real clothes and went live on my Facebook page while I made these little wooden patriotic tags.

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Click here to see how to make your own wood tag cutouts

Here’s what you need to make Fourth of July wood tags

wood tag cutouts (click here to see how to make them yourself)
red, white, and blue acrylic paint
wood star or star template
jute or twine
paint brushes
sandpaper
heat gun (if you want to speed up the drying process)
chip brush for antique wax
antiquing wax
scissors
lint free cloth
paint tray
canvas drop cloth to protect your surface

—> if you LOVE this DIY 4th of July craft be sure to check out these easy DIY mini wood firecrackers CLICK HERE <—

1.PAINT THE WOOD TAGS

Since these are patriotic themed wood tags I went with the colors red, white, and blue.

I painted two of the tags all white, when the first coat was dry I painted a second coat on them. Sorry for the grainy pic I took snips for my fb live I did to create these.

women painting wood tag white with a paint brush

Then I painted the third wood tag blue. I used an English blue and not a true blue so it would tie in better with my rustic farmhouse looking home décor.

women painting a wood tag royal blue for 4th of July

Click here to get access to all of my FREE cut files, prinables, and more.

2. PAINT RED STRIPES

Unlike my chunky 2×4 wood flag where I used tape and got a cleaner look I just eyeballed the stripes on these wood tags and was happy enough lol! But if you want a little cleaner lined look to your stripes you can use masking or painters tape to make the lines a little straighter, even, and more crisp.

I painted 3 stripes on each wood tag. One down the center then one stripe on either side of the center stripe.

women painting red stripes with a paint brush on a white wood tag

3. ADD A STAR

You can free hand this, use an adhesive stencil, a cardstock stencil, or trace a wood cutout of a star like I did. I had a leftover star from a Christmas ornament that I didn’t use so naturally I put it with the rest of my hoarded craft supplies. I centered it on my wood tag then traced around it with a pencil.

women tracing a star on a blue wood tag craft

I took a small paint brush and painted a thin coat of white acrylic paint. After that was dry I painted a second coat over it.

woman painting a freehand white star on a wood tag craft

To help speed up drying time I used my heat gun. This tool was so inexpensive and comes in handy all the time!

women using a heat gun to speed up drying time on a star wood tag

4. DISTRESS THE WOOD TAGS

If I was not in my house I would have used my sander for this step. But since I was inside I used 150 grit sandpaper. I focused on the edges and corners and lightly went over the fronts of each wood tag.

women distressing wood tag using sand paper and a sanding block

5. ANTIQUING WAX

If you’ve read some of my other posts you might know that I LOVE antiquing wax for my distressed pieces. This stuff is so good and gives pieces such a primitive look.

If you want a more in-depth tutorial on how to use ANTIQUING WAX I created an entire post on how I use it on my craft projects.

women applying antique wax to striped red and white wood tag

6. ADD TWINE TO YOUR WOOD TAG

The last step is to add a piece of twine to your wood tags. I went with a thicker jute for my tags since the hole I drilled in the 1×4 tags was on the larger side.

That’s it! These wooden tags are so easy to create for your rustic 4th of July decorations. If you have any questions leave them in the comments below.

Happy Crafting and be sure to check out more DIY craft tutorials below.