DIY Farmhouse Style Patriotic Stars

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These fun and patriotic stars have a colorful farmhouse style look to them. While I found my wood starts at a thrift store, I hope you are inspired to create your own using unfinished wood stars you can find online or at most craft stores.

My stars took a little work from beginning to end to make them over, but if you’re starting from scratch, then you’re already ahead! You’ll just need a few supplies.

Let me tell you how I made mine…

I was looking for new items to makeover for this month’s Thrift Store Decor Challenge when I found my stars at a local thrift shop. They were $1.99 each, and I almost passed them by until I realized I could definitely work with them. I also realized that I could show you, my readers, an easy project that you can create as well even if you can’t find stars just like mine.

The Rules:

• Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
• There’s no monthly theme.
• There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Amanda | The Kolb Corner    Kim | Made in a Day
Maureen | Red Cottage Chronicles    Pili | Sweet Things
Debra | Shoppe No. 5    Jeanie | Create & Babble
Kimm | Reinvented    Kathleen | Our Hopeful Home 
Shirley | Intelligent Domestications    Angela | Simply Beautiful by Angela
 Michelle | Our Crafty Mom    Ali |
Michelle | Michelle James Designs     Kimberly | Farmhouse Made
Molly | Just a Little Creativity    Lora | Craftivity Designs
Colleen | Life on Kaydeross Creek     Toni | Small Home Soul 

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

How to Create Your Own Patriotic Stars

Supplies:

• Unfinished wood stars
• Red, white, blue, and brown craft paint
• Carbon paper for tracing numbers
• Small eye hooks for hanging
• Ribbon for hanging

Tools:

• Paintbrush
• Sanding block
• Rag

My stars before were cute enough, but very country and not my style. The design on them was just glued on paper. It was peeling, cracked, and chipped. I don’t mean the little faux crackle effect that was printed on the paper, it was actually cracked paper.

So my first measure of business was to take the paper off. I did this by wetting it down and just scraping it off.

It was really messy business. That resaturated glue was STICKY!

I did like the distressed look of the stars once the paper was off. If they’d been white instead of black, I wouldn’t have painted them at all.

If you’re beginning with unfinished wood stars you were able to purchase, this is where we’re caught up.

A fresh coat of white paint is what they’ll need. I didn’t want mine to be too thick, so I did a lighter whitewashed look to mine. It’s up to you if you’d like yours to have a thick, solid coat of paint or not.

I used chalk paint, but regular white craft paint should work just fine.

Once the stars are dry, it’s time to add your address numbers.

Print them to size, and then trace them with the carbon paper.

Now, it’s time to customize your stars to your own style.

I painted my numbers with navy blue.

I used red, white, and blue paint and painted a border on the edges.

If you want yours to look distressed like mine, you can sand the edges with a sanding block. I used brown paint on a wet rag and rubbed it onto the star in places. This gives them a bit of a stained wood look. 

Last, add little hooks to the top if you want (mine already had them) and hang your stars from ribbon.

You could technically glue or staple the ribbon to the back of the stars as well.

My stars hang from my farmhouse style “Welcome” sign I made in THIS post, and they’re perfect.

 

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

If you like this patriotic project, you may want to check out a few of my others as well…

Americana Metal & Wood Stars

Patriotic Mason Jar Craft- DIY Rustic Americana Candle Holder

Star Spangled 4th of July Party Decorations

Patriotic Street Number Banner