Tuesday, June 29, 2010

PB Knockoff, just in time for the 4th!


I'm so excited about this project!!!

Who among us had NOT seen this lovely from the Pottery Barn and coveted it for our own home?

It's gorgeous!
It's also $129
I don't spend $129 on accessories at my house. To be honest, I can't decide if I'm sad about that, or if I'm happy that I'm more creative than that.

Anyway, I decided to try my hand at another Pottery Barn knockoff.

I started by purchasing a sheet of wood from the Home Depot.

I used 1/4 inch thick plywood, because I wanted it to be light. I cut my piece to what I felt like was a large, but still manageable size.
The Pottery Barn flag is 27x50. 50 inches seemed incredibly long to me.
My flag is 24x36

I started by taping off my stripes. I counted them up on the PB flag - 7 red stripes, 6 white. I did mine just like theirs.

Red was first, white was second.
 

Blue was last.

After all the blue was dry, I used a rubber scrapbooking stamp to put the stars on.  I wasn't really super careful with these - I knew I was going to distress it, anyway.

Confession: there are only 40 stars on my flag. I apologize to the last 10 states in the Union. I just didn't have room on my flag. I don't think it's noticeable...

I forgot to take a picture of the flag when she was all shiney and new. I was too excited to beat her up, I guess!
The next step was distressing the flag with sandpaper. I started off with some 120 grit in my hand...but it really wasn't getting the job done quickly enough, so I switched to my power sander. It may have gotten a little over-distressed in a few areas, but overall I love how it turned out.

Since I used craft paint to paint my flag (I already had all the right colors, it was easier than buying real paint for the project! You could totally buy those sample paints from Home Depot for this, though, and then you could probably skip this step) I needed to seal it. So I used this Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating and gave it 2 good coats.

It darkened up all my colors and gave it a bit of a sheen. I realize it's kind of impossible to tell the difference in these photos...trust me, it gave it a much more "finished" look.
 

Next I attached D rings to the back for hanging it up. One on each side, about 2.5 inches in from the edge. Since my wood was kind of thin, I used some little washers to make sure my screws wouldn't poke through the other side :)
 

Then I (my husband) hung it from my gorgeous pergola. I'd have done it myself, but I could get the screw driver attachment out of my drill to put the right bit in. DH had tightened it up too much last time he used it. I swear he does it just so I will have to wait for him at times. It must make him feel strong ;)


LOVE.

Linking up all over the place...
The Girl Creative
Tools are For Women, Too
These Creative Juices
Today's Creative Blog
Sugar Bee

26 comments:

Amanda @ Healthy House on the Block said...

GORGEOUS! You did such a great job! I personally like your flag better than PB's. Great tutorial, too! :)

Unknown said...

amazing and great tutorial!!! please come on over and link up to MMM :) I'm going to do a special 4th of July feature tomorrow!

Heather Henderson said...

love it!! such a great piece of outdoor decor. it looks fantastic and it looks like it was fun to make, too!!

Kari Sweeten said...

What a perfect tutorial/craft for this month!! You did a fabulous job and I'll be featuring!!

Spittin-Toad said...

Love it...I just might have to give it a try!!
Denise

Rory from Tools Are For Women Too! said...

Nicely done! You are truely a Modern Crafswoman! Rory

Anonymous said...

Hey I am a new follower. I just this idea. I just might have to make one too.

kristensjunkdrawer.blogspot.com

Brittany said...

Love it! I'm featuring it on my blog tomorrow. :) Thanks for sharing. Love your blog!
little-inspirations.blogspot.com.

the thrifty ba said...

newest follower just because of this fantastic project!

Sassy Sites! said...

I featured you on my blog today! come over and check it out! :)

Cher said...

Congratulations Mandy!! I saw that you were featured on UCreate. Maybe we should get together and craft sometime.

tomiannie said...

Love love love love! Thanks for sharing!

Jana said...

Yes..I love it even better than the pottery barn one!

Kate said...

So great! This will go on my list for next summer!

smcdonald248 said...

Looks good.

I'll point out one thing: The standard length to width ratio for the american flag is 1.9:1. The 27x50 PB flag yields a ratio of about 1.86:1, 24x36 is 1.5:1. You may want to edit your post to encourage choosing a medium size that comes close to 1.9:1 to get a more authentic looking flag.

Great job! I will probably be making one for my wife this weekend. Might even keep it up year round :-).

Mandy said...

Great suggestion, smcdonald248! I'll add a note at the bottom to check out your ratios for a more authentic size :)

Erin @ The Little Apartment said...

New follower.. nice project. I knew I liked you when I saw you were coveting the cubby organizer... me too.

Kerri said...

This looks fantastic...great job!
I'm a new follower...so I'll be stopping back!

Anonymous said...

I'm in love with this! How have I not seen it in PB!!? I (my husband) will definitely be making one of these! Thanks for the tutorial!

malia said...

stopping by from tools are for women too... LOVE this-- you rocked it!

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

Awesome! I saw this when you first posted in and quickly added it to my Friday post. Great job! I'll be featuring this at somedaycrafts.blgospot.com today!

Nana's Fun Stuff said...

I love it!! You did a fantastic job on it and I think it does look better than the PB one personally :) And I'm sure the other 10 states will forgive you ;) I think it is adoreable and would hang it proudly that's for sure. Great tutorial also. Good job!! ~ Laura

Erica said...

I love all things PB! so doing a knock off to save some $$ is right up my alley!! I am planning to do this for my good friend whose birthday is on the 4th of July! I think he will really love it, he quiet the patriot!! thanks for sharing :)

Becky said...

This is awesome. I started a new link party today and would love it if you linked up. Your project would be perfect for it. Thanks :)

http://beckywaldrop.blogspot.com/2010/07/knock-it-off.html

Nike said...

LOVE.

Hodgsonxsrf said...

I featured you on my blog today! come over and check it out! :)

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