Fourth of July is probably my second favorite time of year (you know, after the fall/winter holiday season? :-)). Something about the family BBQs, beautiful lights from the firework shows, and red, white, and blue EVERYWHERE! I love it. We haven't been able to collect too many 4th of July decorations, and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with one of us always working on the holiday. It's hard to make plans when you don't know who will be home, and who's out bringing home the bacon. This year we will all be together! I've already started planning who, what, where, when, and of course, why is because we are celebrating America's Independence Day :-)
This is a super simple and fun craft you can do to bring some patriotic spirit to your event or home. The kids can even get in on this one and decorate with their own special ideas! One of the great things about these painted flag mason jars is that you can use them any way you like. They'd be awesome for holding utensils or streamers on the picnic table. They'd also be great for some simple flower arrangements from the garden. Like luminaries? Try dropping in a flameless candle and lighting up the party. Basically, they work for everything!
Not a whole lot of supplies are needed, just a few things I had around the house:
1 large mason jar (I used the quart size)
acrylic paint in red, white, and blue
sponge brush
small paintbrushes
paper towel
small bowl of water
a piece of cardboard (or you could use an envelope, like I did)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Put a small amount of white paint onto the cardboard. Using a wet sponge brush, mix a small amount of water with some of the paint and lightly brush onto the jar, using lengthwise strokes. They don't have to be perfect, and you want the paint to be more watery than opaque.
2. While the jar is fully covered but still wet, crumple up the paper towel and lightly dab it all over the jar. It's easiest to do this whole process with your hand in the jar. Less mess and unwanted fingerprints, trust me! Let the jar dry completely.
3. Put a small amount of blue paint onto the cardboard. Using a damp small brush, paint a tilted square onto the side of the jar. This'll be where the stars go later, and serves as a guide for where your stripes should line up. Carefully dab the paper towel onto the blue square and let dry completely.
4. Using the same process, draw in the red lines for the flag. There should be room for 13 stripes total: 7 red, and 6 white. Let the red stripes dry completely, after dabbing them with the paper towel.
5. Using another damp paintbrush, carefully paint white stripes in the empty spaces. These are best painted using only the paint, not with water mixed in. I'll leave it up to your judgement if you want to dab these with the towel. I did first, but didn't really think they looked clear enough, so I went over them again without dabbing after. Let the white stripes dry completely.
6. Using a tiny paintbrush, dot in the stars on the flag. Honestly, I really tried to get all fifty states in there, but got distracted. If you can get them in, more power to ya! :-) Pat lightly with paper towel and let dry completely.
Ok, how does yours look? That didn't take too much time, did it? I have a couple jars I'll be giving Bubba to paint, and can't wait to see how his turn out. I really like the sort of rustic look of these. Lends more toward my country side, and just makes me happy! If you'd like, you can add a sealant to the painted surfaces, so everything stays put. Ours will be more for decoration, so I didn't think they needed them at this point.
Hope you enjoyed the project, and please share if you did!
What summer projects are you working on? What would you put in this jar?