DIY ~ Stars and Stripes Canvas

I realize that the 4th of July has come and gone, but I promised a tutorial of my new Stars and Stripes wall hanging.  :) It was super easy to make and didn't take much time at all.  I received several compliments on it, even in the short time that it was up.

I started with a 20x16 canvas that I got at Michaels during a Buy One Get One sale.

First, I painted it white with some leftover craft paint that I had on hand from a previous project.  I know it may seem a little silly to paint a white canvas white, but I had read somewhere that this helps to keep the paint colors from bleeding.  And to my amazement, it did work!!  I let this base coat dry about 30 minutes.

Next, I marked with pencil 2 1/2 inch stripes.  You could certainly vary the size of your stripes depending on your preference.  I just liked the look of the wider ones.  Then I taped off the stripes using FrogTape. You could use the blue Painters Tape, if you prefer. I just happened to have this kind on hand.  Make sure to press gently but firmly along the edge of the tape to "seal" it before painting.  That way you have even less of a chance of the paint bleeding through.  

Then I painted the red stripes, again using craft paint that I had left over.  It took 3 coats to get the coverage that I wanted.  I let each coat dry about 20 minutes in between.  

The moment of truth ....time to remove the tape.  TA DA!

I was beyond excited with the way it turned out!  I think I even let out a little squeal & did a happy dance around the living room.  :)

Now to add the metal stars.  I also purchased these from Michaels while they were half off.  I took wire cutters and removed the AMERICA tag/bow.  (I saved the America tags...never know when those may come in handy)

The trickiest part about this entire project was how to attach the metal stars to the canvas.  My first thought was hot glue, but quickly found that this was not going to hold.  So at the suggestion of Honey, we tried super glue.  This worked perfectly!  I wish I could say that I measured out where to place them, but I just eye-balled the placement and then said a silent prayer before pressing them down.  

I think it turned out beautifully!  I look forward to putting it out next year and the years to come giving my entryway a little festive touch.