U.S.A. Patriotic Door Hangar - DIY

Last month I did a guest post over at Jo, My Gosh with a Patriotic door sign. I thought that enough time had passed that I could share that tutorial on this space! With 4th of July right around the corner and Labor Day in the next couple of months there is still time for you to create your own little pieces of patriotic craftiness. Seriously, I have no patriotic decor in my house! Such blasphemy since I come from a military background. So I decided to remedy that and make myself this little sign! I'll tell you right now that I had big plans for this, plans that had to be scaled back due to time.....I tend to over think a project trying to figure out all the ways I can do it. Read below as to how I made some errors along the way, hey they help you not make them! Also this is super easy to do, just time consuming.

Supplies:
Scrap piece of wood (mine is about 6"x14")
Sand Paper
Contact paper (you know for lining your kitchen drawers, Dollar Tree!)
Xacto Knife
Paint (Several colors; red, white and blue)
Paint Brushes (Or sponges)
Glitter (optional)
(3) fabrics (for rosettes)
Glue gun and glue
Steel Wire
Eye Hook Screw
Drill and Bits
Pliers with Wire Cutter

1. As you can see, I had planned for it to be a MUCH larger piece. Oh well. Anyways, take your wood and sandpaper and sand the surface down a little to be able to let the paint stick.
2. Paint 2-3 coats of white paint onto the wood, I did fairly light coats and made sure to make my brush strokes seen for that rustic look. I also tried to make it look a little like white wash. How you want it to look is totally up to you!
3. Once your paint has dried (over-nightish) take your sandpaper and sand around the edges and on the surface a little to give that aged effect. I did a little in the corners and some in the middle as well.
4. Ok, here's where it may get tricky.....well at least it did for me. First time experience with using contact paper in my printer.....didn't go too well. Ideally this is what you should do. Cut your contact paper 8-1/2"x11" to fit into your printer. Print out your image onto the top of the contact paper, not the paper back. Using your Xacto knife carefully cut out your stencil, and place it centered on your board. Press the edges of the contact paper down so it sticks nicely and the paint will not seep under. Here's what I did....I printed out my image on regular paper until I figured out a good size. Then I placed my contact paper in my laser printer, mistake 1, upside down, mistake 2. Realized that I did this, I put the *ahem* 'warm' contact paper, mistake 3, back in the machine and re-printed it. It came out of my printer a melted ball of mess. So I took my regular printed paper and did the old scribble on the back with a pencil and then trace onto the contact paper trick. The font that I used was a little tricky to cut out as I had to cut out all the small pieces and then re-position them onto the board, but it made for a really great look! Take the extra time and just do it!

5. Paint over your stencil with a paint sponge or just a brush....I of course found my sponges AFTER the project, so I just used a regular paint brush. I also put glitter on it once my last coat of paint was a little tacky. It looks super fun! Let dry and carefully peel away your stencil. To get the smaller pieces off I used the tip of my Xacto knife.
6. Make your rosettes. I used three different fabrics, two were patriotic and one was blue with a Scottish Terriers on it, but hey rolled up you can't tell! I used this technique to make my rosettes....again first time trying this skill! I cut my fabric 1" wide by about 14" long. For the red and light blue rosette I used two strips and for the navy rosette I used 3.
7. Flip your board over and attach your eye hooks and wire. I would pre-drill the holes to get you started. You can use these instructions to help you out! Once your hanger is attached flip your board back to the front. Take your glue gun and attach your rosettes to the front.
8. If you like you can take a strip of burlap and tie a little bow on the wire. Hang and admire your work! :-)

I'm so excited to have this in my home! I need to get a hanger for my front door. but for now it looks nice hanging under our little family portrait. I hope you enjoyed this post and if your looking for any other crafting projects, or just wish to stop by and look around please head on over to my blog, DD Kimball Road. Thanks for reading!

Diane