Dollar Tree Crafts: Shabby Chic American Flag Inspired Wall Art #DIY

We’re getting ready for 4th of July celebrations with a little help from our friends at Dollar Tree #spon

Last week, I shared my Patriotic Wreath Craft featuring the star-shaped serving trays I found at Dollar Tree this month.  Of course I simply couldn’t stop there, these plates are far too inspiring to keep in the cupboard!

The 4th of July is a big deal for our family, we always gather together family, friends and neighbors and celebrate all weekend long with picnics, barbecues and group gatherings at firework festivities.  Because it’s an active time for visitors at our home, I like to the extra mile on decorations, but don’t want to break the bank in the process.  A stop at our local Dollar Tree is one of my favorite solutions.  I always find plenty of craft inspiration, decorations and party supplies that keep me well within my budget.

On this trip, I found plenty of great items with patriotic flair for 4th of July festivities.  I had an idea in mind to make a flag-inspired wall hanging prior to heading to the store, but wasn’t quite certain what materials I’d use (other than perhaps, foam poster board) to make it happen.  After roaming the aisles for a bit and picking up streamers for general decoration, the ideas began to spark!

Dollar Tree materials I used for this project are:

Plastic Star Shaped Serving Tray (blue)
White Foam Board 20 x 30-inch
Red Crepe Paper Streamers
Red Satin 1-inch Ribbon

My materials I used for this project: 

Patriotic paper cut-outs (from my scrapbook materials)
All-purpose glue
Hot glue gun and glue
Scissors

Total cost of project:  $4 (slightly under $4 if you factor in that I have left-over ribbon and streamers that I’ll re-purpose for other projects or for decorations) 

My home is very “country” or as the stylists like to coin as “shabby chic,” so I wanted the wall hanging to have a little bit of a matte, vintage appeal that would fit in with our standard decor.  When I picked up a package of red crepe paper streamers, initially thinking I would use them to help decorate our picnic tables… the idea sparked that they would make excellent stripes for my wall art!

I decided 5 strips of crepe paper would space nicely across the poster board.  Each strip was cut to 32-inches in length so that there would be a little over-hang to wrap around the sides of the poster board, giving them a nice, clean finish.  I used all-purpose glue to secure the crepe paper to the poster board.

The crepe paper needed a little more texture and to me, ribbons or lace are always notions I always think of when I think vintage. So, I cut 32-inch lengths of ribbon to run along the center of each strip of crepe paper.  I used all-purpose glue to secure the ribbon to the crepe paper and to adhere the ends to the back of the poster board.

I originally planned to attach the blue star serving tray without embellishments.  Though, I did like the stark look of it, I decided that I wanted to add a little more interest, so I scoured my scrapbook supply and came up with some iconic shapes to use.  I simply decided on an arrangement of shapes that I liked and used all-purpose glue to adhere them to the center of the star.

You could easily use any suitable scrapbook embellishments you have on hand, used pictures from magazines or old family photos to create a custom look for your star.  If you want to be a little more daring and fully cover the star shape, a little decoupage would create a wonderful effect, too.  Or simply leave the star “as is.”  The plain star did look very nice, too.

Another idea is to add two star plates to the flag background for an entirely new look.  I also thought it would be charming to simply use the poster board as a table runner, set 4 star plates on it and fill them with goodies making it our dessert bar!  (I will likely still do this, just need to make another trip to the Dollar Store!) 

To secure the star plate to the poster board, I used a few spots of hot glue.  You could probably use all-purpose glue, but with the weight of the plate, I wanted to be certain it held up to the test of time in order to re-use for future patriotic celebrations.

This is a great craft for children to participate in as it’s certainly a quick and easy to complete and a wonderful addition to any 4th of July decor!