DIY hanging wood flag


Do it yourself rustic American Flag, how to make a hanging American flag

I love patriotic décor. Not only because I truly love being an American but because it never goes out of season! You can leave it up year round and it looks perfectly beautiful and not at all out of place, unlike the wooden Santa I had hanging out in the living room five months after Christmas. Yes, that’s a true story! My grandma painted this amazing 5 ft tall Santa ages ago and I somehow overlooked him for months in our living room.

So unlike Mr. Claus, patriotic décor would not stick out like a sore thumb long after Independence Day has passed.

If you don’t have time to make your own be sure to stop by my Etsy shop and purchase your own handmade wood American Flag made by yours truly 😉

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Ok, on to the tutorial.

Here’s what you’ll need

SUPPLIES

TOOLS


DIY hanging wood flag, how to make your own primitive American flag

After you cut down your 1×4 into the correct sizes you need to give them a quick sanding. I use my Ryobi handheld cordless sander for this but you can use just sandpaper or a sanding block, although it will take a lot more work and more time. I purchased my sander fairy cheap at my local hardware store, one of the best $50 I’ve ever spent! After you have all the 1×4 pieces sanded give them a quick wipe down to get all the saw dust off.

Next you need to paint all the wood pieces and the stars. I only did two coats on each piece. To get the look that I did on mine you will need to paint all three stars WHITE, 2 of the 1x4x12’s WHITE , 1 of the 1x4x12 RED, and the 1x4x13 BLUE. Let them dry COMPLETELY between coats.


DIY hanging wood flag, make your own American flag at easy with this tutorial

After everything is totally dry you need to mark your pieces where you will drill your holes. I am not a perfectionist so I just eyeball it. It’s rustic so it doesn’t have to be perfect anyway 😉 I do this with a pen but if you’re worried about messing up you can use a pencil.


DIY hanging wood flag, how to make an American flag at home for your porch

Not counting the stars, your pieces should have a total of 11 markings, 3 on the top of the blue piece where you will attach the stars, 3 on the bottom of the blue piece where you will attach the hanging white and red pieces, 1 on the top right of the blue piece and 1 on the top left of the blue piece where you will attach the baler wire to hang for displaying, 1 in the top middle of each white piece, 1 in the top middle of the red piece. I don’t typically mark the stars because it’s not necessary, the hole goes in the top of the star.


DIY hanging wood flag, how to make your own American wood flag to hang on your front door

Now it’s time to drill. Your drill bit will vary depending on how thick your baler wire is. I always use a drill bit that is just a size above the wire size, that way the wire has room to move so that it’s not super tight. Be sure when you are drilling the holes in the stars you don’t get too close to the top. If you get too close you will crack the tip of the star and you won’t be able to use it. PRO TIP: place a flat discarded piece of wood under what you’re drilling into so you don’t drill into the table underneath.


DIY hangin wood flag, how to make your own at home

Now it’s time to distress. Using your Ryobi sander sand around the edges. Here’s a good example on how I do this in my Dr. Seuss keepsake craft. There are some good close ups on sanding just the edges and rounding the corners of the wood to give it a perfect rustic look.


DIY hanging wood flag, how to make your own American flag to display on your front porch

I only sand the 1×4 pieces. The stars are so small and fragile that yo don’t need to sand those, using the wax on them in the next step will work just fine.

Apply wax around all the edges, corners, and give them a light coat down the center of each piece. Check out my DIY rustic wooden pumpkins post on a more detailed way to do this using your chip brush. I love pretty much any brand of antiquing wax, they all work great! PRO TIP: cut the bristles down on your chip brush. You get a better outcome when the bristles are shorter and stiffer.


DIY hanging wood flag, how to make your own American flag porch decor

You’re almost done! The next steps are just assembling your pieces together. You’ll need your baler wire and wire cutters for this.


DIY hanging wood flag, how to make your own patriotic porch decor

You’ll need 3 wire pieces cut to approx. 6”-7”. Cut your pieces short if you want less space from the blue piece to the hanging pieces, and longer if you want more space from the blue piece to the hanging pieces. Now make a loop with your plies on ONE end of each piece like pictured below.


DIY hanging wood flag, how to make your own American flag porch decor

These loops will go on the BACK of each piece.


DIY hanging wood flag for the front door

Then connect it to the blue piece and loop the end just like you did before. This is what the BACK of your flag should look like before you attach your stars.


DIY front door hanging wood American flag

The star wire is slightly different. You’ll need a 3” piece for each star. One end you need to wrap a few times around your needle nose pliers. This doesn’t have to be perfect, mine never are. Leave the other end open.


DIY front door hanging American flag

Then feed the straight end of the wire through the front of your star then through the front of the boar where you drilled a star hole.


DIY hanging wood flag for your front porch


DIY hanging wood flag


DIY hanging wood flag

After you put your star wires through their holes on the blue wood you want to do the same thing and loop them on the back like you did with the other wires. Pictured below is BEFORE they are looped.


DIY hanging wood flag for your front porch

Add a piece of wire to hang at the top corner holes and you’re done! I know it seems like a lot of steps but it’s SUPER easy! I’d love to see pictures of your handmade patriotic decor, especially if you make this piece:)!!


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