Americana Folk Art for Real Folks

A lil' Americana Folk Art for Real Folks...

Okay...I have to ask, is there anything more American than Folk Art?  Well of course there's apple pie...baseball and more but in regards to country design...well you get it, right?

I'm still working on decorating for the fourth, I still have lots to get ready for our annual Fourth of July party and will be busy for the next couple of days.  The Americana pretty much stays up here all summer long so it's worth the effort to go all out.  I love the festive colors and they go nicely with our Farmhouse decor.  

I have been oooohhhing and ahhhhing flag finial displays for a while now.  I almost bought one a few years back on a visit to Williamsburg but came to my senses when I reached for the price tag.  I saw another on one of our trips to Gettysburg again and was once more disappointed at the high cost of owning such a piece.  This time, each year, I would love to decorate with one but the prices are simply out of my budget.

Well, I finally decided enough was enough and this was finally the year that I was going to get me one.  So I impulsively hopped into the car and drove the 3+ hours to P.A., ran into the store I last saw it and to my pleasure picked up the very last one on the display counter.  Well I quickly shelled out the $150 to the nice man behind the counter before someone else could yank it right out of my hands, right?   

Ummm no....no I didn't!  I'm a terrible liar BTW.  Well, rather than do all that I decided I was just going to have to make it.  I grabbed my idea notebook, scribbled down a sketch of what I wanted and off I went to the stores to see what supplies I could gather.  I'm happy with the way it turned out and decided that I would share with my blogger friends in case anyone else felt a little last-minute ambition too. 

Here's a picture tutorial for those of you brave enough to tackle it, it is worth the effort.  It really was easy...does it look exactly like the $150 one?  No...but it's close enough and I like my less expensive, modified version even better.  Why you ask?  Well, because I made it....using good old fashioned American tenacity and ingenuity. 

Necessity is the mother of invention afterall....right?

Folkart Flag Display

Materials needed....
Most of it was found in the unfinished wood section at Michaels Craft store....

-6" block of wood.....$3.99

-3" block of wood......$2.99

-small 2" round MDF plaque.....$1.99

-6" square plaque.....$1.69

-round wood finial (p/u at home improvment store)..... $2.99

-White spray paint.....$1.29

-3- (12"x8") medium sized flags.......$3.75

-6- (6"x4") small flags.............$2.40

Optional decorations...Ribbon $2 roll, and plinth block picked up from home improvement store...$2.00, I chose one with a star

Tools needed.....hammer, drill, drill bits in varying sizes depending upon size of flag poles purchased.

~The Stacking and Glueing Part~

~The drilling part...remember your safety goggles!~

~(still drilling)~

4 holes ontop of block...4 more holes in center of each side...

If you are going to embellish it with a plinth block I recommend painting first and then glueing.  Spray paint the whole display....add decorative ribbon and flags.....

So, let's recap that is a total of apx. $20-$25, varies depending upon what you have readily available....Beats $100+(+) right?   mmmmhmmmm....  What do you think?  Will you give it a try?

Stay tuned to see how this purty display graces our

**Farmhouse Table for JULY 4th**

Now, how's about a Folk Art Flag to go along with that?

So were you able to follow that one?  Here's another folk art project that I have sold several of in the past.  The shipping is pretty expensive on these because of their size so I don't sell them in the online Mercantile but I'm going to share how you can make one of your very own instead. 

Material List....

-(5) 32" long pieces of unfinished pine tongue & groove beadboard found here at Homedepot.
-(2) 16-18" pices of 1" wide x 1/2" thick pieces of pine for the back
-clear construction adhesive I use liquid nails
-1 iron star, I have purchased these at local country shops but you can substitute with wood/paint.

-Red, White and Blue craft paint, foam brushes
-white school glue
-teeny tiny finishing nails...from hardware store
-eye hooks or another form of hanger
-sandpaper
Tools needed:  Hammer, hair dryer

I paint the colors on pretty heavily so that it doesn't require multiple coats but if you have to paint multiple coats repeat glue process with each coat.  Let them dry throughly

 Make sure your edges are even and match up... 

Flip over to front side and.....

Make sure you are nailing in straight verticle line, into the back supports....I nail into each board.

 Peel tape off slowly when finished drying.

It took adhesive about an hour to dry thoroughly with the iron star.  If you use wood it won't take as long & paint is even quicker, but I like the look of the iron star....adds texture.

Add hangers to the top of the back supports and voila...you're finished.  I propped it up on my mantle in front of a large barn star to show you but it will be going outside on my porch tomorrow.  You can distress it with sandpaper as I did with mine if you like.  Take it a step further and antique it by wiping on a medium-dark colored stain and wiping off immediately.  The stain will settle into the cracks and make it appear older and worn.  I haven't done that with this one but still might, I kind of liked the cleaner look this time.  Seal with an appropriate sealer if using out doors.....Enjoy.....

I'm off to finish decorating will show you more hopefully on Friday! 

Let me know what you think of course and if you try these projects send me the link!  I love to read those comments ya know!

Take Care,

Dee

BTW, I participated in a couple of linky parties....

Link to party

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