Fourth of July Pinterest Project

Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be finishing up with blogging about my San Francisco trip but that's just going to have to wait. 

 So, remember my post about all the Pinterest crafts I would be doing?

Okay, well, I have tell you not to follow in my footsteps in regards to the Fourth of July project I posted. 

Canvas is not the way to go unless you work with canvas a lot. Or if you don't by the cheapest acrylic paint you can find. 

I was expecting it to bleed. Honest. But I wasn't expecting it to bleed as bad as it did. 

Plus, when my paint dried, it looked pink. 

Pink, White and Blue? Um, that's just wrong. 

Anyway, luck would have it that Neil and I updated a planter box that was given to us so we bought wood, had it cut AND had a squarish piece left over. 

Luck would also have it that I had a quart of white paint just lying around. (Weird, I know.)

So, I took the squarish wood, washed it with water (to be safe) and painted it white. I left it to dry overnight because I am impatient when it comes to giving paint the proper amount of time to dry and I needed to not be impatient. Then, I gave it one more coat of paint the next day and let it dry overnight again. I know that seems a little over cautious but I was fed up with failing. 

Then, that third day I went out and bought a red paint that I knew would work. I used painter's tape to cover the white board in stripes like so:

Then I covered the tape again and made sure it was flat flat FLAT as it could be against the board. 

(I didn't want it to bleed...)

Then I carefully painted the red onto the board. 

LEAVING the tape ON the board, I let the paint dry overnight. Again. 

FINALLY, the next day I slowly and carefully peeled off the painter's tape and...VOILA! 

It was much better the second time around. (Actually it was the third time around...let's not talk about it.)

I had painted the star back on day one, it was originally an off-white color but I bought paint to change that and it worked out just fine. 

I was in a pickle as to how to add the star but then I realized I was packing heat. A hot glue gun, that is. ;)

BAM!

Fourth of July project. 

It took me four days, three tries, two canvases and one crappy red paint to get there, but I got there. 

Here's to hoping your experience is better than mine was. 

Learn from me, young grasshoppers, learn.

Here is a side by side:

The pinspiration...

My finished product.

Price breakdown:

Canvas: 2 for $2.50 (on sale Hobby Lobby- don't use)

Wood: Roughly $1.00 (it was left over from a different project, we bought it at Home Depot)

Paint: $5 (Red-one good, one bad, White-for the wood, Blue-for the star. You can buy it at JoAnn's.)

Star: $7.99 on Ebay

Ribbon: 1 roll-$3 (JoAnn's- I bought mine with a coupon)

Total: $19.50 

I didn't use as many coupons as I could have and I certainly could have saved a couple bucks by just buying the wood right off the bat and by being smarter in my choice of red paint. Also, do some more digging when finding a star that works for you. My sister found me one at JoAnn's on sale for $3 and it was already blue. I did spend a lot of time looking for one so it may just be hit or miss but online sites like Ebay and Amazon are really good resources.

Happy Crafting!