Friday, June 25, 2010

I love America

I'm patriotic.  I love my country.  In my living room, you can see a subtle theme of God Bless America with my wood planked USA and the picture hanging over my mantle.  So on Tuesday of last week, when Ana from Knock-Off Wood posted these plans, I knew I had to make it.  As usual, the original came from Pottery Barn.  Yep, I definitely like their style, just not their price!

Planked Patchwork Flag
Image Courtesy of Pottery Barn

Ana's plans call for scrap wood.  Slight problem...I didn't have enough scrap wood to make this.  I wasn't even close.  So we went dumpster diving to get it all.

We cut all of the various wood pieces to size.  We did have to adapt a bit due to the wood from the crates not measuring exactly the same as wood from big blue or big orange would.  We laid all of the wood out on our sheet of plywood and made a few adjustments until we had our square.


I used our sander with 60 grit paper and sanded each piece individually until my arm almost fell off.  I was thrilled with how good the wood looked after some serious sanding!


I used the Minwax Water Based Wood Stain tinted in china red and midnight blue, along with the white oak to stain my boards.  I mixed the midnight blue with the white oak until I came up with a light blue color I liked and used that.  If you do this, make sure you mix enough for 2 coats!  I didn't come up with a gray color, I just stained the white boards with quite a few coats, and then left the ones that were supposed to be gray with only two coats of the white stain.


I found stars at Jo-Ann's and traced them onto my boards with a thin paint brush and my white stain, and then painted inside the lines.




I love it.  These pictures were taken after I put it all together.




Chris helped me glue all of the boards down, trying really hard to keep our square.  We also nailed in the tiny 1 inch nails for an added detail.  Ready to see her in all her beauty?!



Oh...you'd like to see a few image from the side?  Okay!




Back to the front...



And to be fair, we have to add in the other side.


I still have to add the wall hangers on the back, but this one might be a gift, so I couldn't just yet.
Just in time for the 4th too.  God Bless America!!  Do you love her as much as I do?!  I'm linking to these fun parties...go check them out!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!

30 comments:

  1. Found you through New Friend Friday! :)

    Wow that looks really great! I wish I knew my way around power tools but I probbarely know the difference between a seesaw and a chainsaw. ;) Where are you going to keep it? In your entryway or on the outside of your house? It looks really big so I am curious where it's permanent home will be. :) It really does look awesome- great work!

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  2. *probbarely? Yeesh typo alert! Sorry! Haha...

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  3. Kara, you are amazing! I love this, and it's so big and beautiful! I love how the sides are finished too. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  4. Oooo Love it!! Thanks for directing us on that other site where you got the plans! Yeah, I would've went dumpster diving for the pallets too, especially since it seems like it took quite a bit of wood! Best part of the whole project, you didn't spend that much money!! LOL Looks fabulous!

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  5. All i can say is WOW WOW WOW! You are good!
    Happy new friends Friday!
    Following your blog and would love for you to say hi and do the same!
    Xo
    Frenchy

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  6. Wow that is amazing! I love it. I popped over here from Facebook, from the Knock-Off Wood page.

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  7. Mirage - I wound up giving it as a gift, but I plan on making another one and putting it right there on my kitchen wall!

    Ana, you are amazing! Thank you SO much for posting plans that are easy to work with!

    Thanks Haley! I love el-cheapo projects that don't look so el-cheapo!

    Thanks for all of the compliments...they mean so much!!

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  8. This is WONDERFUL! You did a great job -- I like yours better than the PB one. :) Thanks so much for sharing!

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  9. Kara, this is seriously so stunning! I love how this turned out! I love all things Americana, and this is one of my fav. pieces I've seen this year! Thanks for sharing!

    ~Alison
    http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/

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  10. So much fun! Love that you use recyled material! I'm so glad you shared this on Modern Craftswoman Monday! Rory

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  11. Looks better than the PB version! I love it!

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  12. ..I’m Barb….I am from Thrifty Nifty. I am your newest follower. I hope you will get a chance to visit my blog @ santasgiftshoppe.blogspot.com & get inspired by something for your family/home. I hope you will take a peek and follow me as well. Nice to meet ya new friend!!!Plus I have a great Italian Stone Giveaway going on right now..We'd love to have you join us.

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  13. Forgot to tell you how I believe the same things about our most wonderful country as you do! I also wanted to tell you how wonderful your scrap wood project turned out..Just beautiful.. You did a fabulous job!!

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  14. love it very patriotic and americana and very good looking as well

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  15. OH MY LORD!!!! LOVE IT!!!! I gotta make one!

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  16. Thanks for all of the compliments guys!!

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  18. OH MY GOSH--this is gorgeous!!!! This is a masterpiece! You should be so proud!
    HUGS,
    Cindy

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  19. I LOVE this! What a great idea and it looks fun! Thanks for sharing this - visiting from TGC!

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  20. This is so awesome. What a great project. Now we know what to do with all our scrap wood.

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  21. What a wonderful job. So impressive.

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  22. This project turned out really great. I {might} have to steal it! Nice job!

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  23. This is beautiful! Something like this would look great in my son's room.

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  24. A-mazing!!! You really pulled off that look, and for a much better price. ;) Love the cute stars. This is a great statement piece. Visiting from The CSI Project. Hope you'll stop by and visit me too. :)

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  25. Uber cool! A lot of work and you did a great job! Thanks for sharing ... I've posted a link.

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  26. This is beautiful! Visiting from The CSI Project.

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  27. I have no words for how much I love this. We love America! My husband came from Poland then Canada in the 80's and I have been trying to think of a way to make something beautiful with all three in mind. Would you have any suggestions? I would LOVE to makes something just like this and have 2 other countries on the side for my in-laws to view at our home when they visit. You are so very talented!
    Blessings - Lisa

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