Flag Door Hanger

I saw something like this online (probably Pinterest) and filed it away in the crafting part of my brain (which is about 95% of my brain haha) for a later date. Well, cleaning up my craft room I remembered I still have leftover material from my Patriotic Wreaths and this idea popped up in my mind. 

This came together so quickly - just cut 26" strips of red and white material and tie them to a hanger. Then cut 18" of blue material and tie in between the red and white strips on the left side.

I added some ribbon and pompom trim to finish it, but not sure it really needed it - you know me tho, never know when to quit haha! 

I hung it on the door going into the house from our garage where it'll be protected from the weather - hoping it doesn't fall off the hook...if it does I'll close up the hanging loop with pliers.

one year ago: painted mason jar with paper pinwheels
two years ago: healthy berry trifle

Flag Luminary

Another easy quick craft for the Fourth - aren't they cute? All you need is a big jar, a small flag, mod podge, rope for around the top, and glitter (glitter is optional I suppose, but it's glitter - why wouldn't you add it if you have it?!).

As you know, I'm an instant gratification kinda crafter and will find things in my house that will "do" when I see or think of a project that I want to make - I saw the idea for these luminaries online but changed it a bit to use the things I already have and put it together a little differently. So I'm using a large clean pickle jar (I have them left over from making the very very best yummiest pickles - click here for that post) with the label removed, a 6x4" cheap little flag that is wrapped around a dowel, matte finish mod podge, and white glitter.

Slide the flag off the dowel and cut off the part that was folded - you want the flag to lay flat. I liked the edges all jaggedy so I cut a thin bit off the other end and unraveled it a little to match. Brush a thin layer of mod podge onto the jar where the flag will go, apply the flag, then brush another thin layer of mod podge over the entire flag. Make sure there is mod podge under the entire flag since it's acting as glue to keep the flag in place. Smooth out all of the bubbles (I use my fingers, then wash my hands before the glue dries), and let it dry 15-20 minutes. Apply a second coat of mod podge and sprinkle with glitter. Let dry. The mod podge dries clear but you can still see it on the glass so I took a wet paper towel and something with a sharpish edge (uh, that'd be my fingernail) and cleaned up around the flag so the mod podge was a little neater looking.

To finish wrap rope around the top using a little dab of hot glue to hold it in place. Once everything is dry I put some sand in cuz I like how it looks, and a votive candle (use a tealight if you made this with a smaller jar).

Note: initially I was going to make this with a Mason jar but realize the flag isn't going to stick as good or be smooth because of the raised imprint on the Mason jars.

I re-use paper or styrofoam plates when I have small painting (or in this case mod podging) projects

the white piece in the middle is what was holding the flag to the dowel that I cut off.

mod podge goes under and on top of the flag

after applying a second coat of mod podge sprinkle with glitter

the glitter looks really pretty with the candle lit - it's all sparkly and having this outside at night is going to be so nice!

Having trouble linking the source for this idea - I found it at A Little Craft In Your Day.

Painted Flag Mason Jars

Ever have a crafting day where nothing goes right? Well I certainly do and this project falls under that category... good grief I struggled! I'd seen this mason jar project numerous places and thought it was cute - and then my sister mentioned she saw it and was hoping I would make them for her. Sure thing sissy, I'm always happy to have a purpose for crafting haha.

It started out fine, if you count going down to the basement to get 3 pint jars from storage and knocking over an entire shelf of plastic containers fine. And that was just the beginning. I couldn't find navy paint at 2 different craft stores so figured I'd just make my own by adding black to some brighter blue. That actually worked, but still - why can't I just buy navy paint? So 2 jars get painted white and one navy; there was something wrong with my white craft paint and it ended up going on uneven and gooey. I tried to speed up the drying process by hitting it with the hair dryer but it just looked bad - fortunately I used regular old acrylic craft paint so it was easy to wash off the jars and start again with fresh white paint and the second time I painted them went better. I ended up painting all 3 jars with a second coat. After thoroughly dry I taped off the areas where I wanted to paint the red stripes using washi tape as recommended - I read that blue painters tape would pull the paint off the jar. Guess what, washi tape pulls the paint off too...ugh. 

I couldn't get the tape to stick tightly around the curved edge of the
top of ball jar, so I used a fat rubber band as a guide

this is what the jar looked like after removing the washi tape...a little messy!
I touched up the area where the red went into the white and where it peeled
the paint off with a small brush.

I used a tip I saw online to make the star stamp and hot glued a couple foam stars to the end of a wine cork, yes - that worked! Great idea I will def use again. Then dip the stamp in white paint and stamp over the navy, except the jar is round so I had to press the edges of the star onto the jar - you won't get nice crisp star edges doing that but I decided the rustic handmade look is what I was going for and not try to make them so perfect. 

glue foam stars to a wine cork to
make the stamp

One site I found with directions said when they were completely decorated and dry she lightly sanded them in places to make them look distressed, I know why she did that - cuz they don't look so good and you want to rough them up a bit to help with the illusion that you meant for them to look beat up!

after I lightly sanded them to give them a "distressed" look.
Actually I was distressed more than the jars!! 

After sanding I sprayed them with clear shiny sealer so they will hopefully last forever and I don't have to remake them for her! I'm not saying this isn't a cute or worthwhile project - once completed I actually really like them, but let's just say that after having everything go wrong I'm not going to be making another set!

once dry, I took them outside and sprayed with a clear sealer

2021 update: my sis still brings this out every year, she put silverware in them a couple weeks ago for Memorial day and they still look great. It's making me rethink making another set - enough time has gone by that I'm willing to try again LOL!!